It's Complicated
by afigmentofmyimagination
Summary: 3 years on, Ally now lives in Paris, separated from her best friends, after her life at home becomes something she simply cannot handle. But she can't run away from her troubles forever, and it was wrong for her to think she could forget the name Austin M
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hi everyone, I decided to start a new fanfic. This is based around Ally, in the future where she's living by herself after she separates with her best friends three years ago, starting a new life in Paris. But things change very quickly after her 3 years of peace, and she finds herself drawn closer and closer back to Austin and the rest of her friends. Hope you enjoy! Please review, as idk whether to continue.**

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Ally's POV

I reclined in my seat and opened up December's copy of the most popular magazine in Paris. I'd always been fluent in French, so reading was a breeze, but my accent hadn't changed one bit. After all, I was a Miami girl, and no matter how much I'd molded to the beauty of a Parisian lifestyle, I couldn't forget the place where I grew up. I scrolled past a few pages then stopped at "les meilleurs couples de l'année","The Hottest Couples of the Year" and skimmed the page. Kim and Kanye, Brangelina, Nina Dobrev and Ian Somerhalder, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds (I second that!), Ally Dawson and Austin Moon. What? My eyes stopped at number 2 on the list and I frowned.

Last time I checked, I hadn't seen Austin Moon in 3 years? I read on.

"Call us nostalgic, but there really isn't any denying that 3 years past the separation that basically broke the internet into pieces, Austin Moon and Ally Dawson are still in the back of our minds - 2012's power couple are still, in our opinion, one of the most amazing things to happen to the music industry, and I can't see why anybody else would disagree! Our hopes are still pinned on our very own Ally Dawson; Ally, if you're reading this, please reunite with your best friends back home! Although we love seeing you and your on point style on the streets of Paris, we'd love seeing you with Austin Moon again even more! XOXO"

And then number 1: Austin Moon and Cassidy Schafer (Lord, give me strength...)

"But life goes on, and no doubt every single one of our readers will agree with us that Austin Moon and Cassidy Schafer have been the ultimate power couple this year. Everything goals. Everything. We're loving that Austin has finally gotten over the events of 3 years past, and we're loving them together. This year has been a crazy one, and who knows what next year will bring? All I know is that no matter how much Austin Moon and Ally Dawson try to move on (and believe me, looking back at them this year, they're trying very hard), we've placed the stakes very high, and I'm counting on some sort of reunion next year. Till then, enjoy the Christmas season, fellow readers. XOXO"

Ugh. Who did this writer think she was? Gossip girl? Seriously? Did she really not seem to be able to substitute Austin and I for...I don't know! I mean, it's been three years since I last saw him. I won't keep you in suspense. Ever since Austin and I started dating, things escalated pretty quickly. I minded, but it was okay, because our relationship was strong and we really cared about each other. We became the centre of every single magazine and every single website which was okay, because I knew what I was signing up for when I chose a singing career. Everything was great between all of us: Austin, Dez, Trish and I. We bought a huge house and started living in it. It had a huge studio and was basically the home of any singer's dreams.

Then came the girls - Kira and Cassidy. Kira was toxic. She created so many problems in our lives that I don't even know where to begin. Austin and I started to argue often, which got out, and became the centre of the internet. #TeamAustin or #TeamAlly? Then we managed to get Kira out of our lives for good, which was great, but then our parents created even more problems. Since we weren't 18 yet, they seemed to have some sort of claim over our home. Crazy, right? I didn't mind; my dad was a great guy. He'd leave us alone, and it wasn't like there was no room for him in the house. He'd given up his store for us to build the music factory, after all. Then came Austin's parents, who, at first, I felt the same way about. They'd sold their home to repay bills from their store. They were nice people, of course. It wasn't like they were terrible people, but then came the harsh reality of the situation.

Austin's mom had an affair with my dad. Yeah. Just take a moment for that to sink in, sweetheart. My boyfriend's mom and my father. Austin and I were horrified, but that didn't make things awkward between us at all, surprisingly. It just made everything in the house so much more tense than it had to be, and when it got out to the public, we were trending for a whole week straight on Twitter. From that moment onward, both of us were faced with choices that were too hard to be made. My mom flew all the way back from Africa to stay with us, which only made matters worse. I was failing in school, something which even I can't believe, being a gifted A* student and that.

Then came the worst bit, which was being put under the pressure by both my parents to choose between them and Austin. How was that a choice I could even make? Part of me labelled them as being terrible people, but the other half knew they loved me and couldn't bear to see me fail in school and live in a home where there was no happiness. But I loved Austin - I was at that point where I had become so attached to him, and we'd been through so much that I couldn't bear to lose him, or not have him in my life. So I was torn between the three people that meant the most to me in my life. And so was Austin, except he wasn't exactly torn.

His thoughts on the matter was that it didn't matter - we would wait until we were 18 and kick our parents out of the house because he wanted for us to be together. He chose me. That only made things worse. We would be close as anything one day, then the next fight so much that we didn't want to even look at each other, then at night creep into each others beds and fall asleep in each others' arms. The world loved it - the two starcrossed lovers of the music industry, young and innocent. But we really weren't. We'd been through too much for anyone to ever call us innocent people.

Eventually we decided that we needed to stop getting so attached, as one day it would ruin us, and it was a mutual decision. I swear. We both started seeing new people, him seeing actor/model Cassidy, and me seeing her model brother Chace. Things were great at first, although there was a great deal of jealousy being hidden beneath the surfaces.

I liked Chace. I liked the way we looked together, the way he looked, the way he looked at me. It was different to being with Austin, but all I liked about us was how we looked together, like I said before. I didn't want to break up with him, as I knew I might start getting jealous of Austin and Cassidy and cause more problems than necessary. But I could tell Austin wasn't happy either. Cassidy and Chace were just rebounds for both of us to get our minds off each other. Trish and Dez weren't big fans of it. Austin and I started using them against each other to deliberately make each other jealous.

"He doesn't really love you, you know. Not the way you need to be loved," Austin commented one day, amused.

"What do you mean by that? You don't mean to deny that Cassidy's just your little pet to drag around for the amusement of the music industry?"

He laughed. "I'm not denying anything, Ally, but I do like her. I genuinely like her. I'd be upset if I lost her."

"Then what do you mean?"

"You do realize he wants to bed you, and that's all he wants out of you," he said bluntly. I flinched.

"Shut up, Austin."

"Think about it...he only ever wants to see you at night. He never comes over during the daytime-"

"Okay, that's enough. I don't think Chace is like that, but if that's what you want to think, you over-judgemental freak, do what you like."

Chace and I had been dating for several months. I'd met him over at Cassidy's house, and I instantly started crushing on him. We really hit it off. It scared me how attractive he was, with his brown eyes and dark hair, and the way he looked at me was weirdly pleasing. I did like him, I swear, but that was before the day; the day that I came home trembling and nearly in tears.

"Ally, oh my gosh. What's wrong?" Trish asked.

"N-nothing," I said. "We just had an argument."

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked, concerned. If there's anyone who stuck by me through everything, it would be Trish. It's a shame I've not bothered to see her in these 3 years either. I'm a terrible best friend.

"Tomorrow morning, I promise," I muttered, before running upstairs, my head swimming. I ran into my room and pressed the speaker button that connected me to Austin's room.

"Austin?" I asked, my voice shaky and muffled with tears.

"Ally? What's wrong?"

"You were right...about everything."

In an instant he was in my room and I was in his arms, my face buried in his chest.

"I'll kill him. How fucking dare he force you to do something you don't want to do with him? I'm gonna kill him-"

"You can kill him tomorrow...for now, please stay with me?" I asked against his shirt.

"I wouldn't leave you for anything, Ally. I love you."

Turns out, Cassidy was at the door, about to knock, looking for Austin since he was taking her out to dinner that night.

"You love her, huh? Turns out everything I considered turned out to be true," she said, and walked away from us.

"What are you waiting for, Austin? Go after her!" I shouted, pulling away, but he remained on my bed.

"I can go after her tomorrow morning, I promise," he shrugged.

"How can you treat her like that after she just saw you with another girl?" I exclaimed, angry, getting up, fixing my hair and makeup and running out of the door to the car to find her. "See! This is why I hate things being like this!"

I drove all the way to their home, unafraid of potentially facing Chace all alone. When I reached, I saw Austin's car already parked up. He got out and gave me a disappointed look.

"I can't believe you'd come here without me. All alone. What if she wasn't home? What if it was just her brother?"

"Fine, come with me then. I'm not letting you lose her," I muttered, and took his hand, quickly dropping it at the door.

"Why do you care whether I lose her or not?"

"Because, Austin! I'm not in on the details of your relationship, and frankly I don't want to know, but she distracts you from me, at least while she's with you, and we can't both be single without something scandalous happening! Don't you get it? She likes you, and you like her! Take this opportunity to get away from the whole "us" situation while you can!"

Austin grew quiet.

"So you mean to say you wouldn't care if I did move on with Cassidy? Not even a little bit?"

I hesitated. Of course that wasn't true.

"Not even a little bit," I lied. He grew quieter. "God, you know that's not true. Just ring the doorbell already."

Cassidy answered the door, her eye makeup smudged but still looking alright.

"What do you want?" she asked, her voice hoarse. Instantly, I felt sorry for this girl, this innocent girl who genuinely liked Austin, who genuinely made time for him, unaware of the mess she was getting herself tangled in.

"Can we please come in?"

She let us in, and we sat down.

"It wasn't what you thought it was, Cassidy," Austin started. "Your brother...he nearly forced her to sleep with him and they had a huge fight and she was really upset, so I was comforting her."

"Comforting her by telling her you love her?" she asked, her eyes welling up with tears.

"It's not like that-"

"She's my best friend...of course I love her."

"Don't try and act like I'm some kind of idiot, Austin. I've been reading magazines and Twitter trends long before I even met you. You two were made for each other. I was wrong to have thought I could make you see someone else the same way," she said.

"You know what? You're right," Austin looked like his head was hurting. "I'm out of here. Coming?" He looked at me.

"Um, I think I'll take my car."

"What's going on down here?" Chace came down the steps, looking tired and annoyed from what had happened earlier on.

"Oh, so you are home," Austin commented, walking up to him and punching him square in the face before slamming the door behind him and driving back home.

"You need to go, too, Ally. You've done enough," Cassidy sighed.

"Actually, I wanted to talk to you alone, Cassidy. Austin's a nice guy, and he really does like you. I can tell, as I'm his best friend. So much has happened between us that I feel like he can't move on. I feel like I can't move on. Moving on is the best thing we could ever hope for each other. He really can't seem to move on, but I think I can make it happen. Please just give him a second chance; I can tell when he enjoys someone's company," I said, my throat getting thick, "and he enjoys being with you. I won't come between you two again...please just know, that that was never my intention."

And with that, I left, the car journey on the way home a spiral of thoughts ending in one final decision. If you're sad, you might as well be sad in Paris. Blair Waldorf said it best. When I got home, it was pretty late. I opened up my wardrobe and packed clothes very quickly. Then I wrote a note to my friends. My amazing best friends.

 _Hi guys...there's no easy way for me to say this to you all, so please try and understand why this is the best thing I feel like I can do for myself. I'm going to Paris, for a little while at least, just for me to clear my head and take a break from everything in this house. So much has happened, and I can't keep going on pretending nothing is affecting me while the entire world is talking about it. Why should they get to see us all in such a vulnerable state? Please, try use this as an opportunity yourselves to move on from everything. I feel terrible about just going, but I have to. At this point, I feel like there's nothing else I can do to save myself, to save you guys...to save Austin. You guys are the best friends I could ever ask for, and although I know I'm betraying you all, you have to at least try and see why this could be what's best for me. I love you all so much, and I'll call you. I promise. Please don't try and look for me. I really terribly need some time to myself. I'm so sorry._

 _xo, Ally_

By morning the next day, I was in Paris, where I'd been for the next 3 years. 3 years is a hell of a long time to sit moping about your sorrows. I moved on! Finally, I felt like I was free. Although I missed my best friends, I knew this was the right thing to do. I was living in a hotel room in the most expensive hotel in Paris, overlooking the Eiffel Tower. I'd tipped off the receptionist enough not to let anybody know my whereabouts, and I was loving life.

But everybody knows that you can't run from your troubles forever, and 3 years was simply a miracle that I'd managed to survive without some trace of my past creeping back up on me. I was wrong to have thought I could forget the name Austin Moon forever.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hi guys! Thank you so much to the two reviewers of my first chapter! I'm not very used to writing fanfics, and always feel a bit like I shouldn't continue when I don't get much support, but I'd just like to say a huge thank you to everyone reading, and that although I feel like I really can't commit to writing, say, a chapter of this story every day, I promise to try stay on top of updating it.**

 **This year I'm writing exams, so it's going to be really hard for me, so I'm going to try and write a lot when I get the time. Anyways, enjoy the story! And don't forget to leave reviews!**

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Ally's POV

It was a bright and sunny day today. I opened the curtains and relished the warmth of the rays of sunshine hitting my bare skin as I stood on my balcony looking out onto the pool which was empty. Dazedly, my mind drifted back to the pages of the French magazine, and I frowned, pushing it to the back of my mind like I always did. Retail therapy. That's what I needed. And more sleep. I had an interview for Vogue the next day; I decided to keep my thoughts on Austin for tonight, when I'd plan my answers about him. I slumped down on the leather couch in my suite with a cup of coffee and contemplated upon what else I had to do that day. To my surprise, there was nothing!

That was the thing about living alone, I realized - you don't need to worry about anything. I was living in my own little world, and although I knew that this wasn't the best thing to do, I was loving it. Although I did miss my friends. A lot. As I sat sipping my coffee, I couldn't help but wonder what they were doing right then, without me. Probably having loads of fun - without me. With Cassidy. I couldn't help but frown at the thought of not knowing what 3 years of being with Cassidy must have done for Austin. I mean, 3 years. Come on. He hadn't broken up with her yet, meaning they were probably really serious. She was probably best friends with Trish now. Somehow, the thought of that cut me even deeper than the thought of her and Austin. She'd probably moved in. She'd probably taken my room. How dare she? Oh my God. Stop being such an idiot, Ally.

Then I got a text. From Trish. Trish?

Trish: Vogue, huh? Who's the new manager? :'(

Ally: No one! I could never replace you Trish. You know that.. miss you

Trish: No you don't.. if you missed me you'd come home

Ally: I'd come home if things were good for me at home. Besides, things are looking good for you all back home without me anyway.

Trish: Lol, if that's what you think

I got dressed in my clothes, grabbed my Valentino purse and headed out. I put on the most weirdest looking shades I could find in my collection and a floppy hat, but still got stopped for photos and autographs. Oh well, I thought. I thought back to 3 years ago, when I literally couldn't step out of the house, and smiled to myself and the freedom I had granted myself.

"Ah, bon de vous revoir, mademoiselle! Ma fille est un grand fan. Que pouvons-nous faire pour vous aujourd'hui?" the woman at the shop asked me politely.

I spent the next several hours going round the different shops, trying on this Elie Saab and that Valentino and that Celine purse. I figured I should go and get something to eat, so I stopped at a Laduree cafe round the corner, only to see a tall, awkward looking red-head in front of me. Hell to the no. Dez? What the hell was he doing here? Oh my gosh, I thought to myself. What do I do? I was starving, and I was also really scared. I made a dash for it, only to see his girlfriend Carrie (equally as confused a soul as Dez) staring right at me. I smiled nervously.

"Hey! You look so much like this girl I know named Ally!" she exclaimed, looking confused as ever. "Dezzy, look! Doesn't she look so much like Ally Dawson?"

"Haha, I get that a lot, actually. Hey, I'm in a rush. Have a nice day, lovely!" I said nervously in the best French accent I could muster. By this time Dez was here, staring at me, before I literally legged it.

"Wait...Ally?" he called after me, confused. This is not happening, I thought to myself. I walked as fast as my Louboutins could take me yet I still couldn't avoid the next person I saw.

"What do you mean, she's not on the directory? I've skimmed every single hotel in this city. I want to find out where my best friend is and I want to find out fast. Est-ce que tu comprends? Jerkface," she scowled, cutting off her mobile phone. I winced. It could only be Trish. My beautiful best friend, right in front of me. I could stop and say hi, give her a massive hug and cry my eyes out to the most trustworthy friend any girl could ask for. But I simply couldn't face her. Not today.

I walked past her as naturally yet quickly as I could but it seemed that today simply wasn't my day.

"Hey, excuse me! Excuses-moi? I dropped French in 8th grade, sorry! Will you help me?" she called after me.

I walked faster.

"Hey! I just want some directions. Rude!"

I walked faster and faster until I could practically feel her following me (which she wasn't) so I ran in my 8 inch heels right across the road, nearly tripping until all I saw was a bright light and a strong arm pulling me across onto the pavement. I was in a daze, my head pressed against this random guy's chest.

"Gosh, you nearly got run over. Do you speak English? Parlez-vous anglais?"

Wait...that voice. It couldn't be. No. What did I do to deserve this.

"Oh God," I whispered, looking up into the warm, brown eyes of Austin Moon himself. I nearly fainted. My legs turned to jelly. I could have sworn my heels had snapped off.

"Ally," he whispered back, and for a while all we did was stare at each other in shock. Until I regained my composure and finally broke off and started to run, my feet blistering and mouth wide open in shock. He was following me. He was running after me. Oh. My. God.

"Hey, you don't really think that you're gonna outpace me in those massive things, do you? Take them off, you're gonna be taller than me...I don't like that," he laughed, and I turned back and glared at him before screaming and kicking at him when he put his hand over my mouth and pulled me into a narrow alleyway. "Shut up, drama queen," he laughed.

"What are you laughing at? This isn't funny. This is anything but funny."

"This is three years worth of laughter too funny. You really thought you could hide forever and we wouldn't meet by chance?" he smiled, euphoric. He had me against a wall. I was going to scream. I was going to scream that I was about to be raped. Seriously.

"This can't be happening...not yet," I say out loud to myself. "What the hell are you doing here, Austin? All of you!"

"It's fashion week! Cassidy's modelling for Valentino so I said I'd come with her!"

I looked at him doubtfully.

"Trish and Dez too?" I scowled.

"Carrie's modelling for some Elie Saab...God knows what that is," he replied. What an idiot. "And Trish...I think she really wants to see you."

"You mean to tell me you came to Paris merely to support Cassidy. Cool," I said slowly.

"I wouldn't say I had no ulterior motives," he responded, smiling that smile that would make any girl fall in love instantly. "You must really have tipped your hotel off a lot of money. How much did you pay them? We couldn't find you anywhere."

"I like my privacy," I said, folding my arms. "In the world that I live in I'm willing to pay for my privacy if I have to. What's your problem?"

"My problem is that it's been three years and you still want to hide from me?"

"I like my life without you in it," I confess, and for a moment, a very quick moment, he looked upset, but then he smiled again.

"You like your life without this in it?" he asked, then he kissed me, very softly and very slowly, and that seemed to be all that mattered. "Because I sure as hell don't" he whispered against my hair, my head in his neck. I was hugging him, I soon realized, and he was hugging me back.

Then I snapped out of my little dream world and started walking away, realizing what I was getting myself into.

"Where are you going? I only just saw you!" Austin complained. "Why do you have to be so complicated all the time?"

"Because that's what we are! Complicated. Complicated isn't something I can live with for the rest of my life."

"Fine. But you lived with complicated for more than a year, last time I checked," he commented.

"Your point?"

"Meaning you can live with complicated for one night. Let me take you to dinner. Just once. I just want to talk. Please?" he pleaded with me.

"Fine. One night."

He looked satisfied with himself.

"Where are you staying?" he asked, looking victorious. Haha. Not today.

"Um...why don't we just meet...here? People will see us on the streets."

"Whatever you say, beautiful-"

"Stop it. Don't call me that. You have a girlfriend, Austin. Grow up," I exclaimed, before turning my back to him and walking away smiling. Stop smiling Ally! Grow up, for God's sake.

"I look forward to it!" he called.

"Whatever!" I called back.

And just like that, I realized, my three wholesome years of Parisian bliss, had become a mere facade. I ran up to my suite, opened up my wardrobe and began picking out the most exquisite pieces I owned. Feeling giddy, I realized how silly I was being, picking out outfits that were worth more than my room itself. Oh well, I smiled. I'm in Paris. I have an excuse. My phone buzzed.

Austin: Our alley way, 8? I'll be waiting

Ally: I'm sure you will

Austin: Don't act like you're not excited too.

Ally: Well I'm not. I promise.

Austin: Whatever you say, beautiful.

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 **A/N: What's gonna happen at Austin and Ally's first date in 3 years of not seeing each other? Posting the next chapter when I get to 20 reviews. Thanks so much for reading, please review though. I hate writing and not knowing what you all think!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Girls! Boys! Whoever you are! Thanks so much for reading, you guys are all amazing, thanks so much for reviewing as well. Hope you enjoy the next chapter.**

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Austin's POV

I cannot believe I found Ally! In her massive heels and expensive clothing I could have sworn it was some other girl. Paris really changed her. She was really mean to me now. I quite liked it. Anyway, I couldn't believe it had been three years and I still felt the same way about her as I used to. That's got to be true love, right? I never thought I could feel for someone something as strong as I felt for Ally. She's literally all I wanted anymore, and the fact that I found her in this bright and beautiful city was a sign that I needed to make her mine once and for all.

She was standing there, in the little alleyway I'd pulled her into when she was running away from me, in a navy blue beaded gown with embroidery that twinkled in the faint light. She looked like an angel, her dark brown hair falling loosely around her pale face which looked uncertain.

"Make it quick. I have an interview with Vogue tomorrow," she said, starting to walk as I caught up to her, staring at her beauty admiringly.

"Sorry, my high-flying fashion icon ex-girlfriend slash ex-friend who doesn't seem to have missed me at all. I'm slightly, ever so slightly offended, you know," I mocked her, and she glared at me.

"Of course I've missed you. That's besides the point. That goes without saying," she commented.

"Why thanks. I feel so much better. This is the one," I said, gesturing to her the restaurant which I'd picked.

"That's a really expensive place to eat. We could have just grabbed coffee you know," she replied, still seeming unappreciative. "But it was a nice thought."

What does she mean? Help? I'd never felt so awkward around her before.

"So," I started, unsure of what to say to her. "You're still singing, I see."

She nodded. "I do a bit of modelling, too. I'm modelling for Valentino as well, Cassidy might like to know."

"I'll be sure to tell her," I commented sarcastically.

"Does she still hate me?" she asked curiously, as though she didn't really care but simply was asking out of interest.

"I won't lie...every time we brought up trying to find out where you were, she got all defensive, saying that if you'd chosen to leave, you'd chosen to leave. And we should leave you alone."

She laughed that contagious laugh that instantly made me smile. "I quite liked Cassidy, you know. She has great taste in clothes, and if I'm honest," she trailed off nervously, "I'd rather she was with you than any of your previous girlfriends."

I smiled to myself.

"So you think we're a cute couple?" I teased.

"Yeah, sure," she laughed hastily. "That's what all the magazines are saying, anyway."

"Guess who's at number two."

She pretended to guess.

"Hmmm...I don't know," she pretended. "Ugh. Don't remind me."

I laughed. "You should have seen Cassidy's face when she saw it."

"Aw, poor Cassidy! You would have thought that three years of #WhereIsAllyDawson would have eventually shut them up about us. But they just seem to keep coming back wanting more," she winced.

"Can you blame them? We were pretty good together," I dared to say.

"Yeah..." Ally agreed uncertainly. "Pretty good."

The evening went by and slowly she started becoming her old self around me. We laughed loads, and talked, and I even got an "I miss you" out of her. Talk about progress. Things only started going downhill when I brought out the ticket.

"What is that?" she asked.

"There's no rush at all, I promise. But I bought it before I came, just in case I convinced you to...come home," I said nervously. "You have to understand that 3 years is a hell of a long time. It can be used any time, whenever you need it."

She froze, and looked like she had nothing left to say.

"Okay?" I started. "I mean, I'm sorry I brought it up-"

"No, it's not your fault...I guess I just really don't feel like coming home just yet," she replied slowly, as if she needed me to digest the words she was saying. My heart sank.

"So when exactly do you think you're gonna feel like it? Because you can't live in this Parisian dream forever," I reminded her, annoyed.

"I don't know. Just not yet."

"You know what the worst part of this is? If I hadn't found you...if we hadn't found each other, who knows how long it would have taken for us to eventually bump into each other and even say hi," I said miserably.

"I know," she sighed. "I'm glad I found you, Austin. Seriously."

I looked at her, unconvinced. I leaned across the table and looked closely into her eyes.

"What are you afraid of? You know how much I care about you, Ally."

"I'm afraid of ruining everything I touch! I ruined my parents' relationship by being with you, I ruined my best friend by not contacting her in three freaking years and I nearly ruined yours and Cassidy's relationship! Tell me why I should come home, Austin. Give me three good reasons," she cried.

"Number one. Because you have a family at home that loves you, no matter how much they pressurize you and make you do things you don't want to do. No matter how badly they make you want to run away from the one thing you know you need in your life. Number two. Because you have friends at home that should be just as valuable to you as your family; who care about you enough to decide to come all the way to Paris from Miami on the pretense of coming to see the fashion shows when really, they're scouring every single hotel in this god-damn city to find you!" I exclaimed, watching her sit in realization in front of me.

"And number three," I added, "because I love you."

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Ally's POV

"Because I love you." Those words rang and rang in my head from every corner of my brain, along every nerve in my body, and I froze. How was it possible for me to backward spiral three years worth of backward spiralling all in the space of two hours? Every inch of me felt like it was shaking, and I knew I was about to cry. I love you. Those three words. Those eight letters. Every single pep talk I'd given myself over the last three years about moving on and starting anew escaped me, and the hollowness within me seemed to have been filled with love. It was only as I managed to overcome the feelings going through me at that point that something within me, that wise, all-knowing part of me managed to push all my feelings to one side.

I stood up abruptly, unsure of where I was leading myself.

"Where are you going?" Austin asked, bewildered, looking too non-flustered for my liking, whilst there I was, looking perfectly calm and composed, while fits of god knows what feelings were boiling inside of me.

"Home," I said quietly.

"What? What's wrong? What did I do?"

"Please, Austin. It was great seeing you, honestly, it was. But we can't keep doing this...you know that," I said, and without a word, walked away.

That night, I couldn't sleep. Not a peep. Usually people get at least half an hour of sleep, even on the worst of occasions, but tonight, I was simply too shocked for any sleep to take me away. I loved him too. But we all knew that already. It killed me knowing that we couldn't be together the way I wanted us to be. I lay awake for hours, letting the thought of what we would have been if we weren't both famous singers take over my mind. I'd have been my old, nerdy self, working at my father's store, studying hard, and who knows? Maybe I would have made something big of myself. A doctor, or a scientist, maybe. And maybe, somewhere along the way, I would have met Austin anyway, and realized we weren't made for each other. He wouldn't have walked in on me that day writing a song, and he wouldn't have stolen my song, and he wouldn't have become an overnight sensation...and maybe we would have both been normal people, destined to meet our other significant other somewhere else along the way, like every other human being.

But somehow, as I sat there thinking about what my life would have been without an Austin Moon in it, I realized it would have been nothing - he brought so much to my life that I simply wouldn't have had without him. Excitement, love, joy, the feeling that you could do anything. L'amour fou. The great loves are the crazy ones. And that was exactly what we were. A great love. In so many different ways. But also crazy. C for crazy. With a capital C.

I lay there all night, wondering just why a love like ours had to be so difficult...why we couldn't just be together with no kind of speculation from someone. Why we had to use other people to distract ourselves from each other...from each other! I mean, how stupid does that sound? I spent the remainder of the night prepping for my interview the next day, making myself some coffee and switching on the television in comfortable clothes.

At about eight in the morning, however, from my position on the sofa, I heard my door click and open, a familiar voice calling "Hello?"

What the hell? I grimaced, and realized that although I'd got my answers about Austin perfectly on point practising them for the past four hours, perhaps I wasn't going to nail those answers for Vogue after all.

* * *

 **A/N: I wonder who's at Ally's door so early in the morning! Stay tuned to find out. Remember to tell me what you think. Even if you just rate it from 1-10 or tell me who you think is at Ally's door, I love reading your reviews. I'd also love to check out your stories too, and every signed review I get, I check out their story. Thanks for reading! Next chapter soon.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thanks for reading, even though I get like 0 reviews :( Disclaimer: I do not own these characters.**

* * *

Ally's POV

Er.

"What are _you_ doing here?" I asked, bewildered. "How did _you_ of all people, find my room?"

"Ally," she looked straight at me, then at the floor. "I should have known."

"Known what?"

"That you and Austin were secretly seeing each other?" she burst out, looking like she was about to cry.

"We met up yesterday, that was all," I sighed, not even in the mood to go into details.

"And you decided to drop him your _room key?_ " she asked spitefully, right about to go off on a rant at me.

"I always keep my promises, Cassidy," I said again. "Coffee?"

"I won't be staying long," she replied icily. I shrugged. "Just wanted to tell you one thing-"

"I really, truly and honestly don't care," I interrupted.

"I think you should. You have no right to create trouble in our relationship, and frankly, I won't let you come between me and Austin ever again, no matter what it takes."

I only realized then that the door was wide open. A thin young man was standing there, unsure of whether to come in or not.

"Ah, Mademoiselle, just a reminder that your interview is in one hour. Ton chaffeur will pick you up outside the hotel," he said, accent thick.

"Merci, Jean-Paul," I called. I turned back to Cassidy, eyes cold. I rarely ever got rude to somebody, but it really wasn't necessary for her to come over here and ruin a peaceful day.

"He's always so distant when anything about you comes up," she said. "I should have bloody known."

"You know what, Cassidy? I think you need to stop blaming me for the cracks in yours and Austin's relationship, and look at it yourself because frankly, if I wanted to create trouble in your relationship, I'm three years late. I think I'd be a little rusty. I didn't approach your boyfriend, and I damn well didn't give him the keys to my suite. And in case you didn't realize, you're in my territory now. And in my territory, I make the rules. Take them or leave them - I couldn't give a damn which. Bye Cassidy," I said sweetly, took my room keys out of her hands and watched her leave, glaring at me. She turned back, and I winced.

"Oh, and Ally? Don't even try to pull something at Vogue today. I will physically destroy you if you start any new rumours. Bye."

Gosh I hated this girl. She used to be genuinely nice, I swear she did. She loved Austin a lot, and for a large part of what was three years ago, her, Trish and I became really close friends. But clearly the fame of being "Austin Moon's girlfriend" had gotten to her, and what used to be possibly the most perfect girl anyone would wish to be, was now the most perfect girl with the bitchiest personality anyone could come across. And I hated it. I hated making myself so distant from the three people I loved so much, only for someone else to take my place. Who knows what could have changed back home. It had been 3 years, might I remind you. 3 years. In that time she could have easily changed everything. She could have easily moved into my room. MY ROOM. I shuddered at the thought.

And then came that terrible feeling only girls know when they realise they truly hate the girl in her crush's life - except my interpretation of that feeling was ten times worse, and Austin wasn't my crush, he was my ex-complicated-boyfriend and Cassidy wasn't a girl. She was a goddess. I suddenly realised how terrible all the news with their relationship at the forefront made me feel. I hated it. No matter how much I hated the paparazzi, I couldn't help picturing myself in the same dress, in the same shoes, standing with the same guy. I hated it.

So when it came to Vogue, I was terribly emotional. And this time it wasn't anger, it was regret. I could not believe that I had left the one person I cared so much about. It was eating me up. The prints of my special "Ally Dawson: Revival" edition of Vogue shocked me more than I could imagine.

 ** _So, Ally. It's been such a long while. Where on earth have you been?_**

 _It has, hasn't it? Well, by now pretty much everyone on earth knows that I moved to Paris for a while now. It was a spontaneous decision, on my part, but I haven't been better, and a change of scene is so refreshing sometimes._

 ** _Paris, huh? Many of your fans have worried that this could be the end of your singing career?_**

 _Yeah, I love it here. There's just something about this city that makes any girl feel at home. And of course I still sing! Singing is my passion; I have so many songs sitting in my book unnoticed, but I feel like that's the beauty of the break that I've taken. That the amount of full, recordable songs I've written could pretty much create a collection of thirty or forty songs. But I could never release them. They're like journals of the past three years of my life._

 ** _Everybody's speculating about why exactly you left Miami, Ally. Would you exclusively tell us why?_**

 _Well, I guess it's a mixture of reasons. I'd finished my tours, and had already started my break, and somehow I realized that being on tour was what I loved doing, and that at home I just didn't have the same energy. Things became...well...slightly overbearing what with the amount of attention I got back then, and the media's full coverage action of my personal life really got me down I guess._

 ** _Do you not miss your friends?_**

 _Of course I do. I miss them every single day. I wonder what they're doing, what they're eating for lunch, what movie they're watching on movie night. It's something hardly anyone will understand, and I'm aware of it. I just knew in the moment that I had to escape, at least for a little while, and although nobody will ever be near to understanding the thoughts behind me leaving, sometimes you yourself know what's right for you._

 ** _What about Austin? Where do you stand with him? Have your feelings for him changed at all?_**

 _Well...I haven't seen him in three years, so, frankly, I have no clue where I stand with him. I suppose a part of me will always have feelings for Austin, no matter where I am - it's silly for the world to think that just because I'm in a different time zone I've stopped caring. Because that will never be the case. All I do know is that when we became the centre of the media's attention, we were two very different people to who we are now. We were so young, and only at that exciting first leap in our musical careers. We didn't even fully like each other, if I'm honest. I remember feeling so awkward around him because I'd never had a real boyfriend before, but as time went by we grew closer and closer, and the closer we got, the closer the media got. All we were were two innocent people who had developed slight crushes on each other, but of course, the media had to crush whatever relationship we had. I hope you feel accomplished. So in answer to the reader's questions while they are sitting reading this, no. My feelings for him haven't changed at all. Feelings don't change, people do._

 _ **And how do you feel about his relationship with Cassidy Schafer? They seem to be lasting!**_

 _I feel happy for him. If he's happy then I'm happy, and that's honestly all that matters to me. Three years is an awfully long time to remain shut up about feeling some type of way for someone. I do regret, of course, not being there with my best friends. I can't sit here and act like I don't care about them, because I do. They're some of the most important people ever in my life, but I suppose I'd be scared to see them three years later. It's hard for someone who's been through so much not to feel, even three years later._

 ** _And what about you? Is there anyone special you're hiding from us, Ally?_**

 _Haha, honestly, there isn't. I feel as though I'd be doing myself wrong if I forced myself to date - I think the best thing for any girl would be to wait until she knows who she really wants to spend the rest of her life with, and focus on her individual goals. That's what I'm doing - focusing on my musical career and other things like fashion. Who knows what next year will bring?_

* * *

Oh gosh. At this point I really didn't care what Vogue published, or which phrase would be trending on Twitter tonight. All I knew was that Cassidy was in my way, and I had been really angry when taking that interview. Really angry and emotional. So I did what I shouldn't have done, and gave Vogue the heads up. There was no way I could edit my answers. The article would be out that same week. My phone flashed and I looked downwards.

 **Reminder: VALENTINO PARIS FASHION WEEK A/W 15 TOMORROW 08:00**

Cassidy was modelling for Valentino too. I sighed and slumped down on my sofa. I had been doing that a lot lately. And I was in the mood for change. So I did what I shouldn't have done, yet again, and grabbed my phone, opening up Austin's contact on it.

Ally: Valentino tomorrow. Figures you're gonna be there?

A reply came within seconds.

Austin: Me, you and Cassidy? This should be good.

Ally: No, me, you, Cassidy and Trish. Bring her. I want to get this over with.

Austin: Dez and Carrie will be there too. Lunch after?

Ally: :/ fine.

Austin: I knew you'd pull through :)

Maybe he was right. Maybe I did need to pull through and stop getting so agitated. That was what I was going to do. Be nice, and see what happened. Perhaps I would have done the same if I were Cassidy. Yeah. Praying tomorrow would be better, I got into bed and curled up. That night, Austin wasn't in my dreams.

That night, I dreamt of my reunion with my best friend. Who knew I could be so excited to see her?

But I shouldn't have spoken too soon, as the events of the next day weren't nearly as smooth as I imagined.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading. Please review! I literally get none and don't want to write if no one's going to tell me what they think.**

 **Just rate it 1-10 or something, it only takes a few seconds, thanks so much.**


	5. Chapter 5

Ally's POV

I woke up the next day with a weird excitement within me, yet I knew somehow that something was going to go wrong. I decided to make the most of the good part of the day, and showered and got dressed, grabbing my phone and leaving the hotel promptly at 7 am, in the tightest of high waisted jeans, a top and a biker jacket. When I got there, the backstage area was already buzzing, and I had trouble finding where I was meant to go.

Then I felt a tap on my back.

"Hi," I said with a smile. A genuine one. I was ready to stop worrying about everything, and just take everything as it came.

"Hi," Austin replied. "Trish is here, somewhere. Should I-"

"I'm so scared. I have no clue what to say to her," I interrupted, worried again when he brought up my best friend.

"Too late," he whispered, and I felt another tap on my back. I turned around to see my beautiful best friend, who I hadn't seen in three years. Picture that.

"Trish," I cried, and we both hugged. "I've missed you so much."

"I've missed you too," she replied and we were both crying. "Okay, okay. Let's stop being dramatic. You have to look your best for the show. Speaking of which, you dyed your hair again!"

She was right. When I'd left Miami, I had bronde hair. Then I dyed it lighter and lighter until I felt like I was turning into Cassidy myself. So I decided to dye it straight back to a more natural dark brown colour.

"I did! Turns out when a girl like me decides to go lighter, the world can't stop talking about that either," I laughed, thinking of all the articles going round a few years ago telling the world I was trying to be more like Cassidy.

"Ahhh, it's so good to see you. This almost feels like old times," Trish said brightly. "You will come out with me after the show, right?"

"Um, of course?" I exclaimed. "Hey, where's-"

"Ally!" Dez exclaimed in his usual bright and happy voice. "I knew it was you in that cafe the other day!"

"Dez, so good to see you!" I cried, and suddenly I felt like the little kid I was before I left Miami. I looked around at my three best friends and nearly cried again. "It's so good to see you all, really."

And then there was a little group hug action, and for a moment there, I felt like such an idiot for leaving these amazing people. Then another voice broke in, and I grew a little irritated just at the sound of her.

"What's going on?" Cassidy laughed in her uneasy voice. I knew she knew it was me, but there was no way she was going to be nice. I knew that.

"Cassidy?" I squealed in the most fake-happy voice I could muster. "Oh my gosh, it's so good to see you!" And I pulled her into a hug. She seemed to catch on quickly and hugged me back, laughing in a friendly manner before whispering in my ear "I warned you."

I gave her a quick smile before being called over for makeup.

"I'll see you guys later?" I asked hopefully, and received three nods, before walking off with my best friend to the dressing table with my name written on it.

"So, Ally, I didn't know you were a model now?" Trish mocked. "Swear you can't even walk in heels? Look at those things!" She gestured over to the eight inch studded heels across from us, and I laughed.

"When you live in Paris, your feet don't even blister from those sorts of heels. How could I live here and not know how to walk in heels?" I giggled. I grew serious again. "How's things back home?"

"Fine, really. Standard. A bit boring. Movie nights just aren't the same without you," she replied solemnly. "Nothing is, really. I mean, we get by just fine, of course. It's just...you were a part of our family, you know?"

"Yeah," I said. "I get you. And I feel terrible about it, Trish. I really do."

"As your best friend, I can understand why you left. You probably think I don't, but I do. But as your manager, I think it's in your best interests to come back. Forget all of that, though. As your sister, I think you need to come back to your family right away."

I sighed. She was right.

"You're right, Trish. But can we talk about this some other time?"

"Sure. For now, let's get you ready into the most beautiful Ally Dawson ever presented to the world," she smiled, and I faced the mirror. My make up was perfect. The artist had literally transformed me into the most beautiful me I had ever seen before.

"I love it," I breathed.

"Mademoiselle, you will probably have to try and walk properly in those shoes before we put you in ze dress, because they will take a lot of breaking in," she pointed to the massive heels.

"Of course. Thank you, Stefanie," I said, and Trish grabbed the heels, bringing them to the practise stage. I put them on and stood up with confidence.

"Whoa," she laughed. "Are you sure you're okay in those? They're a bit too high."

"I'll be fine, Trish," I laughed with her. And I knew why she was laughing. It was because before I left, whenever we went to a special event or something, I would wear heels and literally stumble and fall everywhere. I'd need to have some sort of escort to hold on to as support. We laughed, remembering those days.

"I don't like them," came another voice. Austin's. "Too big. You're too tall," he said disapprovingly. I walked over to him and literally found myself stumbling all over the place, him having to catch me. We both laughed.

"We both know you can't walk in heels this big," he said. "Remember that awards show you literally crushed my right arm holding onto it so long?"

I looked at him with sadness.

"I remember. I just need to break these in though. I'll be fine," I said. "Walk with me."

He looked at me, taken aback, then started helping me walk in them. "Just so you know, don't ever try wearing heels that make you look taller than me in public. I hate it."

"I know you do," I replied, and then stumbled again before he caught me.

We did this for ages, walking back and forth, and one time I actually fell straight on the floor, bringing him down with me. We both laughed uncontrollably.

"Oh no. I don't want to look at the shoes. Did I break the heels? Tell me I didn't break the heels," I half laughed, half moaned.

"You haven't. Get up. Do it yourself now," he laughed, taking a few steps back. I glared at him and he laughed even more. "You can't get up, can you? Fine, I'll spare you the embarrassment this once." He took my hands in his and pulled me up so we were quite close to each other. I could tell this wasn't what I wanted to happen. I think he knew it too. So we stared at each other for a few more seconds until I decided to stop being so stupid and just WALK.

So I did. And I did it quite well, actually. In my skinny jeans and t shirt I'd say I looked quite good doing it, too.

"Yes, Ally!" Trish called, excited. And Austin watched in shock, as I practised my catwalk. "She's so good, right?" Trish said to Austin.

"Yeah. Good," he said, stunned.

Then Cassidy came over, and almost instantly, he snapped back to reality.

"Hey," she said. "Dez was calling you. He's on the other set with Carrie."

"Oooh, I've not even seen the Elie Saab set," said Trish, and she walked off.

"Oh, I guess I'll be going then. See you in a bit, Dawson," he said to me, and he walked off, leaving Cassidy and I all alone together.

"I told you not to get in my way, Ally," she said, like a parent would when they were disappointed in a child.

"I don't play by your rules. You're on my turf, like I said. You play by mine," I replied confidently, looking her straight in the eye.

"Yeah well we'll see about that. God knows what's gotten into you, girl," she laughed evilly, and walked away, tossing her blonde hair at me.

"Mademoiselle, I think that you should take ze shoes off if you have broken them in? To give your feet a rest before the big show. Would you like to try on ze dress?" Stefanie called.

"I'd love to," I said, and followed her to my dressing room.

* * *

The show started in half an hour, but I wasn't nervous. I'd done fashion shows before, of course. The only thing that could possibly be getting in my way would be Cassidy. Whom I really didn't care about. I'd just reunited with my three best friends, and that was all that mattered.

When I put on the dress, I was stunned at my appearance. It really was a masterpiece; it wasn't a long dress, but a short one, with the most intricate embroidery I had ever seen in my life on it.

"Wow," I breathed.

"You look amazing," Austin said. "Seriously amazing. You know who would love to be here right now? I just realized."

I knew, and I gave him a small smile.

"How is she?" my voice cracked.

"She's fine. She misses you, though."

"I miss her too," I said.

"Good luck up there. You'll be great," he reassured me with a smile, then left me looking in front of the mirror at myself with my fresh yet sultry makeup, my dress fit for a royal, and everything.

"Your shoes," Stefanie said. "Have a quick practise in them."

"Thanks, Stefanie," I replied with a smile, and prepared myself. I didn't need to practise in those shoes. I'd be fine.

Five minutes before the show started, Trish popped in my dressing room and squealed.

"Showtime! I'm so excited. Remember to stand up straight, arms strong but not stiff, one foot in front of the other. Heel, toe."

I laughed. "I'm so ready for this."

The next ten minutes were a bit of a blur, what with the dark set with tons of photographers snapping pictures and renowned fashion designers sitting in the crowd observing, admiringly. The likes of Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid all walked by, and I was growing more excited by the minute. So when it was my turn to strut on the catwalk, I did so, with extra confidence and flair.

The excitement oozed in me as I listened sub consciously to the whispers and talk of Ally Dawson modelling for Valentino. I had my best face on, and absolutely loved the pictures being snapped of me. I was such a girl. I loved it. I spotted Austin in the audience staring at me, gobsmacked and made eye contact for a few seconds, not smiling. He raised his eyebrow at me and I very nearly laughed before I fell.

Yeah. You heard that right. I fell on the stage. The audience erupted with pictures being taken and oh-my-gosh-she-was-so-good-what-happeneds and get-some-more-shots-this-is-gonna-be-golds. Oh. My. Gosh. I had not fallen. I hadn't! I hadn't even tripped. I glanced down at my ankle and only then felt a sharp spasm of pain in my ankle. The lights went black and everyone kept talking and judging and snapping pictures even in the pitch darkness. I could see something on the stage by my foot. It was the heel of my shoe.

Once I'd managed to get to my feet, I ran backstage through the pain and to my dressing room to where the co-ordinator of the show was waiting for me.

"Ally! What happened?" he shouted, exasperated. "You could walk perfectly fine before."

"Look, the heel broke!" I exclaimed, handing him the broken shoe.

"Impossible. These shoes would only break if someone exerted too much pressure on them, and judging from you, you don't look all too heavy," he said, wincing. I felt so bad, still.

"I'm so sorry, I really never meant for this to happen. I ruined your show, and I'm so sorry," I sighed.

"Oh, the show's not over yet, sir," came a voice from behind us. It was Dez.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Luckily for you, I still dabble a little in the documentary field, so I was recording all the backstage action and took a break for a little while. I kept the camera on. And it seems that this is what really happened."

He showed me the camera. It had everything on it. Cassidy had come and taken my left shoe, somehow removed the lower heel, then stuck it back together so it wouldn't stick for long periods of time. Just enough for the shoe to snap off its heel during the show. Just enough to cause me another level of embarrassment. I grew angrier than ever within seconds, and stormed out of my dressing room to where her and Austin and Trish were.

"How dare you?" I shouted at her. She looked at me, pretending to be surprised. "You do realise we're no longer seventeen year olds fighting over trivial things. We're twenty. We're older and everybody seems to have gotten more mature but you."

"What's going on?" Austin stood up, annoyed, about to defend Cassidy.

"I don't know, Ally. What's your problem?"

"My problem is, that-"

"Ladies and gentleman. On behalf of the entire company, I would like to give you my sincerest apologies for the mishap that occurred, hmm, like twenty minutes ago," announced Dez's voice trying to be someone else over the microphone. I grimaced. Hopefully no one would know it was him. Austin, Trish and I exchanged terrified looks.

"What the hell?" Trish asked, shocked that Dez was speaking to the entire of the fricking fashion industry.

"We'd like to pretend that didn't happen, therefore I would like to call upon who we believe to be the star of tonight's show, Cassidy Schafer, to the stage, along with Kendall Jenner, and Gigi Hadid, three of which have worn some of the most exquisite pieces we have to display in our autumn / winter collection for this year," he said. I literally nearly threw up.

She walked off confidently, and Austin glared at me.

"What was that all about? Can you seriously not be nice just for once?" he asked, disappointed. I shut my eyes, about to scream.

Kendall and Gigi walked on first, and we all watched from backstage, before Cassidy, the "star of the show" walked on next, looking more perfect than ever. What on earth was Dez doing? Kendall and Gigi left, after posing for a minute while the paparazzi took photos, then walked back offstage.

"Ah, just look at her. Which girl doesn't want to be Cassidy Schafer?" one of the makeup artists commented from behind us.

"I know of one," I mumbled, and Austin gave me a look.

"Stop being mean to her-"

"I'm not the one being mean-"

Dez interrupted us both.

"Cassidy, I think you should remain on stage a little longer. I have a little story to tell. My name is Richard Rosenberg, and I come from South Dakota. I'm an aspiring director, and also dabble a little in the detective business. Now, I'm sure each and every one of you remember that fateful incident from half an hour ago, where one of our other models Ally Dawson, fell and twisted her ankle. And I'm pretty sure that up until that awkward moment, Ally Dawson would have been THE star of the show. But, she isn't. Sorry, Ally. Cassidy has taken your place. And I'd like to show you all why."

Suddenly the stage wall was illuminated with the video taping Dez took of Cassidy sabotaging my shoes. I gaped. The audience erupted. Oh. My. Gosh.

"He didn't," I cried.

Austin watched the screen in shock, and so did Trish.

"I'm going out there," I said. "Why the hell did he have to show the entire world?"

"No," Austin grabbed my arm. "This is hers to explain, not Dez's," he said quietly. I turned to face him.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be."

"Thank you all for coming to the show. We hope you enjoyed it!"

And Dez came out from a little room and laughed.

"Dez!" I shouted. "Why did you do that?"

"Because she deserved it?" Trish said slowly, confused as to why I was angry.

"Sure she deserved it! But I don't! This is going to be all over the internet by the time we sit in the car!" I shouted, and nearly cried.

"You know what? Can we please just get out of here before she tries to say anything?" Austin suggested tiredly. I worried for him.

"Yeah. Yeah, Austin's right," Dez agreed. "Let's go. I'm so hungry."

As we walked to a nearby restaurant, I couldn't help but notice Austin looking so dejected. It made me upset. It made me realize that three years of being away from him changed him too. Perhaps he really had feelings for Cassidy.

"What are we going to do? In all honesty," Trish said, cutting straight to the point.

"Just leave it - I really don't want this argument to go public," I replied. "Please? Make up with her, Austin. That's the best thing for all of us."

"What, so you can hide further and further away in your little world where you think everybody's forgotten your name? You're gonna give it a few months after we go back to Miami and continue living this life away from your family. Stop acting like you have it all mapped out, Ally. Because you don't. We're twenty years old. We aren't little children anymore. We're only getting older," Austin burst out, irritated.

"I agree, Ally. But Austin, she lives with us. What are you gonna do when-" Dez said.

"Hold the phone!" I exclaimed. "She _lives_ with us?"

"She lives with _us,_ yeah. Us being me, Dez and Trish," Austin said. Why was he annoyed at me?

"Oh, sorry. Because it's not like half of the money I earned that year through my musical career went towards the massive house you, Dez and Trish are living in at the moment," I retorted. Austin looked at me, upset.

"We only came to find you and bring you home," Trish said. "Come on, why would I of all people come to Paris?"

"And I appreciate it, I honestly do. You guys seriously don't understand how I feel right now. But I can't go home to such a negative world," I tried to explain, but they all just stared at me blankly.

"Okay, so in five years time where do you see yourself?" Trish asked me.

I had no answer.

"That's besides the point," I started, after an awkward silence. "What happened today was a clear example of why I shouldn't go back to Miami."

"No, _that's_ besides the point. All in favour of me breaking up with Cassidy, raise your hand-" Austin broke in. I glared at him.

"See, now that's exactly the level of immaturity a thirteen year old would have. You like her, and I can see it in your eyes. I could see it today. You couldn't believe what happened. Why can't you all just see that I am the only obstacle in your lives?" I exclaimed.

"Because," Dez said softly. "We are your family. You don't run away from your family."

They all looked at me. I looked at my food and picked at it nervously.

"Can I ask one question?" I asked. "Where does she sleep?"

"In the pink spare room, silly. We're not that terrible friends," Trish said, unable to believe that I'd thought she'd been sleeping in my room. "Your room's under lock and key. Alyssa's always sitting by it, hoping you might magically open the door," she added sadly.

Alyssa was Austin's little sister. She was only two when I left. It was terrible for he and I, watching such a little child grow up in such a terribly cold household, whilst her parents were constantly squabbling. I looked at Austin, and he looked at the table, officially about to leave. We had literally raised that little girl. We were like her parents.

"She needed you," he muttered. Suddenly, my eyes welled up with tears.

"I can't do this right now," I said, my throat thick. I grabbed my bag and left, tears streaming down my face. It was only like five, but I was already done with the day. I'd only got halfway down the road when I felt Austin grab my hand.

"Before you start saying anything, I just-"

"Can I hang out at yours for a while? I don't really feel like going back to our suite right now," he said quietly.

I gazed into his pretty eyes, and wondered just how badly broken we were.

"Of course you can. Did you even need to ask?" I said, my voice hoarse.

When we were in the suite I turned on the central heating, freezing cold from the weather outside.

"Coffee, tea?" I offered him. It was so awkward. I can't even describe it. He gave me a look before slumping down in my bed after taking off his shoes.

"That's my bed," I said.

"Mhm," he mumbled, his eyes closed. I dropped down beside him.

"When did everything get so damn messed up?" I sighed.

"When _you_ started thinking that when someone doesn't like your relationship with someone else, you should listen to them and start being all weird," he said, staring at the ceiling.

"I'm not being weird," I said.

"You're being very weird."

"Get over it, though. It's been three years."

"My feelings for you wouldn't change even if I hadn't seen you for ten years, Ally. Don't tell me-"

"No," I interrupted. "My feelings wouldn't change either. That's why its best we keep our distances."

"See, this is what I don't understand about you. I love you. Why is that something you hear but don't understand? How can you just leave us like that?" he asked, hurt.

"We were good together."

"So good."

"Let's go to the lobby and get something to eat. I'm still hungry," I said, and we both went downstairs.

We spent the remainder of the day there, more like ourselves. We laughed and talked all night, until at about eleven, I told him we should probably go back to my room. A lot of people will probably not feel this way ever, but you know that feeling when you're with that one person you love a lot lot lot, and it gets really late and you're tired but you're in that dazed, drunk sort of mood. I wasn't drunk, let's clear that up. I was just a bit disconcerted, a bit disorientated, and I think Austin was too.

So when we finally made it to my room in the penthouse and he had me against the wall of my suite, kissing me senseless, I didn't say no. I didn't say anything, as a matter of fact. I just let him, and I let myself go. He pulled away and gave me THAT look. I was scared at first. I didn't know what to do. I giggled.

"We're gonna have sex, aren't we?" I said in a sing-song voice, nearly asleep.

"Only if you want to," Austin said, more awake than ever.

"Sure," I yawned. "I'm scared."

"Same, to be honest," he said.

"What do you mean? Surely you've done this before?"

"No," he said slowly. I burst out laughing. "Why are you judging me?"

"I'm not. This is going to be soooooooooo funny," I said, dragging out the "so".

"Yeah. Soooooooooooo funny," he repeated, picking me up bridal style and throwing me on my bed. I giggled, still disorientated. Who knew the day was going to end like this?

* * *

 **A/N: LOTS of Auslly in the next chapter! Stay tuned and PLEASE REVIEW.**


	6. Chapter 6

Ally's POV

I awoke the next day with the strangest feeling in me. I couldn't remember the events of last night, and what I did remember, I thought was in my dreams. It was only when I saw Austin laying beside me fast asleep that I nearly screamed. It had happened. Now, I'm not going to go into any details but it was a...different experience. All my emotions were heightened, and it took everything for me not to start crying. I checked the time.

05:33

No wonder it was so dark outside. Austin rolled over.

"Good morning, beautiful," he smiled.

"Tell me we didn't do something we aren't meant to do last night," I whispered hopefully.

"I think you know the answer to that, Ally," he said, and propped himself up on the bed, looking at me all amused.

"I hope you don't think that whatever happened last night - when we were both slightly out of it, may I remind you - is going to become a regular occurrence," I said slowly.

"Hey, is that the Eiffel tower you can see from your balcony?" he noticed.

"Yeah. Pretty good view, right?"

"I'm going over there. You coming?"

"Put some clothes on," I reminded him. "You're in your underwear."

"Thanks for noticing, but I'm alright. I'll just grab this-" he said, and he pulled the sheets right off both of us to reveal me in only my bra and underwear.

"AUSTIN!" I cried. He laughed at me and I glared at him.

"Fine," he relented, and put on some shorts and a shirt which he didn't button up, much to my happiness. Did I just say that? Oops. He threw another t-shirt at me, and I put it on and followed him out.

"Must be nice waking up to this every day," he commented. "I guess I can see why you like it so much here."

"I like it, but it's weird not knowing anyone. It gets a bit boring after a while."

His phone rang, and he looked at it for a second before sighing and declining it.

"I'm guessing that's Cassidy?" I asked.

The phone rang again and I grabbed it and turned it off.

"I really don't want to speak to her," he said. "Please don't try and make me."

"I'm not."

Then my phone buzzed. It was a FaceTime call from back in Miami. It was my mom.

"Move," I hissed at Austin, and he edged away from me so he wouldn't be in the camera.

"Standard, right?" he looked at me, upset. This was always how it was. We would try to hide from our parents since they both hated each other so much, and so hated us being together too. I sighed and answered the call.

"Hi mom. How is everyone?" I asked.

"Everyone's okay I suppose," she said bluntly. I sighed. "But that's besides the point, sweetheart. What matters is you're okay. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm great. I, um, actually met up with Austin, Dez and Trish a few days ago, seeing as they're here and everything," I said.

"It must have been lovely to see your best friend. It has been such a long time! I'm so glad you moved away from this house though. It was such an unhealthy environment, and you've grown into such a lovely young woman. I'm so proud of you," she replied warmly.

"I know, but I do miss being with everyone, you know?"

"Of course I understand, Ally. But don't forget how much you went through here - you're in a better place, I promise. I hope you know understand how unhealthy your relationship with Austin was," she said. I peeked at him from the corner of my eye, and suddenly grew angry.

"You're only saying that because of how much you hate his mom. And do I blame you? No. Just don't talk about us like you know exactly what we went through," I said.

"Ally, there have been news articles documenting yesterday's event and what happened there. It's a big thing in the news, but I'm sure you already know that. And knowing you, I feel like you're going to do something silly. Please just think about what you're doing. I couldn't bear to see you so upset again."

"Thanks mom, and don't worry. I'm very much the same girl I was two days ago."

"Ally?" I hear a faint voice from behind the camera.

"No, Ally's not here," my mom said.

"But I heard her voice!" the little girl cried.

"Go away. Your mother wouldn't want you speaking to Ally and frankly, neither would-"

"MOM!" I shouted. "If that's Alyssa then I genuinely believe you've become one of the most cold-hearted people ever. Tell me that's not Alyssa."

"It is, but-"

"I don't care, mom. Give the phone to her. Now. And don't tell her mother she's speaking to me. She's just a little girl," I said disappointedly. I didn't think my mom would stoop so low.

"Hello, Ally!" the cute little baby voice of Austin's five-year-old sister came.

"Hi my princess! How are you? Wait, first, is my mommy gone?" I asked, hopeful.

"Yes!"

"Come here then, Austin," I said to him. He was sitting looking out at the scenic view from my balcony.

"Austin there?" squealed the little girl.

"Hi, beautiful," he said, smiling.

"I miss you! When you come home? Mommy not happy today." The pretty little girl with blonde curls framing her heart-shaped face looked sad, and I wondered why this beautiful little angel had to be a part of the drama and madness in our home.

"Don't worry about mommy," Austin said. "I'm coming home in a few days. This monday, actually. And I've bought you some presents!"

"Ooooooooooooh I like presents. Ally, did you buy me that dolly? We can pway with it when you come!" she said excitedly in her angelic voice. If only she knew I wasn't coming home any time soon.

"Of course I have, Alyssa, but I won't be coming home with Austin. I'm going to come afterwards, because I have a lot to do first, you see. But I'll send the doll with him and you can play with Trish until I come back," I said.

"But I want to pway with you, Ally," she said, upset. And I nearly teared up.

"And you will. I promise, beautiful," I said quietly. The little girl gave us both one last look and before we could say anything else, cut the call off. Austin looked at me, annoyed.

"What the hell was that for? You totally upset her," he said.

"I didn't mean to! Oh my gosh, what was I meant to tell her? That I wasn't coming home? Or was I meant to tell her I was coming home and leave her with false hope?" I exclaimed, annoyed at myself. We sat there for a moment before Austin apologised to me.

"I can't believe the way my little sister has had to grow up. Pretty much since when she was like one and the whole affair thing was going on, you were like her mother. That's why she loves you so much. I guess I'm just angry that I have to see this little girl grow up without a mother. My dad really doesn't speak to my mom anymore, and my mom...well, you'd think she'd take Alyssa and move out or something, but she can't cope with her. I don't know what is wrong with her - I never thought my own mother would turn out so bitter," he said, and he took me in his arms.

"My dad has hated me ever since we had this massive fight when you left. He hates your dad and therefore hates you, and when I decided to tell my parents how terrible I felt that you'd gone, he basically disowned me," he explained. "And now, when he sees Alyssa, all he sees is, well, me, and how much he hates my mom, and so he doesn't exactly treat her the way she should be treated either. Its literally like me, Dez and Trish are her parents. You don't know how worried I've been for her since we left."

"I've been worried too, I mean, since you guys have been here for a while now. What about my parents? How are they coping?"

"Well, in a nutshell? Your mom and dad don't really care about each other anyway seeing as their marriage was already kind of coming to an end. But you're lucky, I mean...your parents actually care about you. What happened with your dad and my mom really broke my parents apart-"

"I'm so sorry. I can't imagine what it must feel like not just for you, but for Alyssa."

"It's not your fault. It's no one's fault. I don't pity my parents at all. It's all fine and good them hating each other, but treating Alyssa badly because of it is unjustifiable. I hate them for it."

I shut my eyes and tried to picture a world in which everything was good. I just couldn't.

"What about Cassidy? Didn't she try to make Alyssa happy?"

"She did, I suppose, but she's really not that kind of girl. And plus, it's pretty clear that Alyssa only really likes you. That's why she's gone so quiet. I really just don't want her to grow up with everyone...fighting. She doesn't deserve that. She deserves better than that."

I looked at him very closely and realized just how hard I'd fallen for this boy.

"You're a great guy, you know that right? I just think you should know that just because I'm not with you guys doesn't mean I don't think about you every day of my life. It kills me not being with you all, and right now, it's killing me knowing we only have two days left with each other."

"It doesn't have to be this way, Ally, you know that."

I sighed. "You know what? You're here for two more days. Why don't we just try to enjoy that time while we have it?"

"Why sure," he smirked. "Spending my last two days in bed with you sounds good to me."

I hit his shoulder.

"No," I rolled my eyes, "I mean, let me take you guys on a full-blown Parisian tour! In winter! It will be so much fun."

"Fine," he said. "But I'm gonna have to get back to my hotel to change."

He stood up and went for the door, before turning around and smirking at me.

"What's wrong, still not over the events of last night?"

"Oh please," he laughed, then he leaned over to kiss me, before saying very quietly: "It was the best night of my life."

I'm pretty sure my heart stopped right there.

He turned around and opened the door before turning back one more time.

"See you later, ma cherie," he laughed.

I shut the door behind me and leaned against it for a long time, shocked as to what had just occurred. I grabbed my phone.

Ally: Oh my god

Trish: Say no more!

Ally: We're going out. Meet me at mine at around 11? And don't act like you know

Trish: ! coooooooool

* * *

The remainder of the day was spent snapping pictures and climbing up the Eiffel Tower and shopping and eating at cute French cafes and going on boat cruises.

"I love this place, man! We should have stayed a little longer," Trish said whilst on the boat.

"We have to get back before Christmas though," Dez replied.

"And I don't want Alyssa there by herself, remember?" Austin added.

"You should come, you know," Trish said. "Even if just for a little while. It will be nice to have everyone together for Christmas."

"I'll consider it, but Christmas is in two weeks. That gives me a little while to decide, right?" I asked.

"Right."

"I bought lots of things for Alyssa, actually. I was gonna send them by mail but since you guys are here I might as well send them via you. They're at my place. We'll go there after this," I said.

"Hey, Austin, if you don't mind me asking," Dez said, "Where's Cassidy?"

"I don't know, I'm guessing she left? Anyway, that's a good thing, because now we get to spend the rest of our time here with the people we should be spending it with."

"You're right," Trish said. "It's not like we were ever horrible to her or anything. Neither was Ally."

It's true. I never had been horrible to Cassidy, so I had no clue why I was standing there feeling so bad about everything. Maybe it was because I knew in my heart that she had the right to be paranoid; I mean, I would have been paranoid too! But that didn't give her the right to ruin the show just because she was jealous that I'd met up with my best friends. Was it not enough that I literally packed my bags and left Miami just to give her the shot with Austin that she oh so needed? And was it so terrible, after three years, for me to meet up with the people in my life that meant more to me than anyone else?

"I don't like her," I said quietly, and all three of them turned to face me. "I packed my bags and left my home town. I left my family. I left you guys. I left a little girl who I knew needed me to support her. She was a baby, only two years old and I was like a mother to her. I hid away for _three_ years just to make that bitch happy. I left my own mother. I lived without my best friend. I let my own life out of control just to give her a chance to replace me."

"You're too nice," Dez said.

"No one could replace you. You're dumb if you genuinely think that she could come in to our lives and change things," Trish added.

"It's been three years. Things can change," I replied.

"You'd be surprised," Dez commented.

Back in my suite, things almost felt like we were in Miami. Just like old times. We had tons of food and a movie on and there was just something about that atmosphere that made me feel so at home again.

"I missed movie nights! Gosh, I've probably missed hundreds of films worth-"

"Nope," Austin said. "You've not missed any. We stopped when you left."

I froze and sat upright.

"You guys cancelled movie night because of me?" I asked, touched.

"Yeah, there was something unsettling about the thought of another set of blonde hair being present during it, so we decided to scrap it," Trish shrugged.

"But it's movie night!"

"Movie night ain't movie night without you, though," Dez interjected.

"When's your flight on Monday?" I asked.

"Around two," Trish said, checking her phone.

"I'll be there," I smiled.

"Wait, you're coming with us?" Dez asked, shocked.

"No, I'll be there to see you off," I corrected him. "Hey, where's Carrie?"

"Some shoot back home, so she had to fly back."

"It's so weird how old we all are now," Trish commented.

"The big twenty," Austin said.

"All our friends are starting to settle down, you know. Remember Dallas? He's going to very soon," Trish said.

"Then you have us," I laughed. "The people who chose fame and living life on the edge over privacy and living normal lives!"

"Well that's my fault then," Austin said. "I was the one who stole your song. Things escalated quite quickly from then on if you think about it."

We all laughed, remembering all the good times and the bad times.

"I'm gonna miss you guys so much," I said, suddenly upset.

I knew I couldn't go back there. I just knew it. But it was only in those few hours with my friends walking around Paris that I realized that I was trapped in my dreams. There wasn't anything I could see after Paris. I couldn't see my future anymore. And for a twenty year old girl, that was a bad thing. A very bad thing.

Therefore all I could do for my amazing best friends was laugh and joke and pretend my life wasn't going to go back to its eerily normal ways, and I was going to wake up alone in my bed, make myself a cup of tea and just sit. I wouldn't be able to go out shopping with my best friend or love my other best friend like I was so good at doing and I most certainly wouldn't be sitting in my suite with a bunch of my best friends eating food and laughing around with no other care in the world.

I was infinitely alone in this perfect world, I realized, and there was nothing, absolutely nothing, I could do about it.

* * *

 **A/N: I wonder what's going to happen next! Please review, I honestly love getting reviews from you guys. Even if it's just a rating of 1-10 in terms of how much you liked it, or one word, I don't mind**

 **PLEASE REVIEW! NEXT CHAPTER COMING SOON. I promise. xx**


	7. Chapter 7

Ally's POV

The day my best friends were flying back came faster than I'd originally anticipated. I'd helped them pack, and given them Alyssa's presents, and watched the hours go by until finally, I knew our time together was at an end. I came to the airport with them and we got there a few hours early just to hang out.

"I can't say I'm glad to go back home, if I'm honest," Austin said, grimacing.

"We still have like three hours before check-in time. Let's go get something to eat," I suggested.

"You guys can go, I'm gonna chill here," Trish said.

"Same," agreed Dez. Leaving us a little alone time. How considerate. I really did love my best friends.

We walked to a nearby restaurant and sat down. He gave me a small, sad smile.

"So I guess this is it then, right? When will I see you next? 2018?" he gave a small laugh and looked at the table.

"I told you I might come to Miami in the next two weeks-"

"Oh please," Austin interrupted. "You're living it up in Paris. You're not coming back...stop trying to convince us that you are."

"Living it up," I scoffed. "Pfft."

"You really are happy here, and I can see that. Even if it means we aren't in your life. I don't want you to come back if you hate it-"

"Of course I hate it, Austin! Why can't you see that? Our parents hate us, and we're their children. They hate each other. Mine hate you. Yours hate me. The paparazzi buzz off of everything that goes on in our lives. Please don't lie to me when I ask you this one question. When I was gone, and you were with Cassidy, did you ever feel the way you did when the paparazzi constantly followed us around, or wrote false stories about us? Did you ever consider, just for a second, that the way you two were together was so much better than the way we were-"

"Stop, Ally. Just stop saying that. Why you keep acting like me and Cassidy could have worked I just don't understand," he sighed. "I didn't ever feel for her the way I feel for you. That's the bottom line. And I guess that even though I hate the way you've pushed us all to one side, all I really care about is that you're happy. And you weren't in Miami. And that's good enough for me, I suppose."

He looked unsure.

"I am happy. But don't forget that when I was with you I was more than happy. Don't confuse me hating everything else with me hating you. Because I don't-"

"I'm not-" he interrupted.

"-want to be with you if every single person on this planet, quite literally, is judging us, whether by writing 140 characters about us on Twitter, writing stupid hashtags, or just simply hating us like our parents do! But make no mistake about why I left Miami. It wasn't because I hated you or what our relationship had done to us. It was because I love you!" I interjected. "And I'm going to love you whether you're in a hotel a few streets away from me or even if we're miles apart."

"I love you too," he said back quietly.

"We just can't be together, Austin. And I think if you look deep beneath how stubborn you're being right now, you'll see what I see too."

"I'm not being stubborn. If anything, you're being stubborn," he retorted, and folded his arms.

"See? Real mature, Austin," I mocked, tucking into my food.

"Like you're any more mature? You're behaving like we can't rise above the hate, can't make new lives for ourselves. You left three years ago, Ally. And like you yourself said, things have changed. We're twenty years old. Do you not see us in your future?"

"Of course I do-"

"Then make up your mind! We're not getting any younger. Another three years will go by and another and then another. Then you'll be thirty. Where will you be then? Paris? And then another three years, and another, and another-"

"I get your point," I broke in, sighing. He was right. "This just isn't the right time for me to come back."

"I'm sorry if I upset you. I just want you to understand how much we miss you and how worried we are that you're slipping further and further away from us. Please tell me you understand where I'm coming from," he pleaded with me.

"I do," I said quietly. "I've been thinking about that too, actually. What if one day I come back, just for the banter, and you're all married with children?"

I gave a half-hearted laugh.

"Considering this is the first time I've been next to you in three years, I wouldn't be surprised," he said. "Let's go back to the other guys. I'm finished anyway."

We left the hotel, and all the while my heart was growing heavier and heavier. I knew it would be time to say goodbye any time now.

"There you guys are. The flight's coming earlier than scheduled, so I think we can check in now," Dez said when we caught up with them.

Trish looked sadly at me. "I guess this is goodbye, then. For another three years."

"For now," I said adamantly. Trish looked at me, uncertain. I pulled her into a hug and sighed.

"I love you, Trish. You're the best best friend anyone could ever wish for, seriously. You don't know how badly I'm going to miss you," I said.

"I'm gonna miss you too, Ally. Please come home," she said, pulling away and looking closely at me. "You can't run away from the real you forever."

After I'd said my goodbyes to Dez and Trish, I knew it was time for the hardest part of it all.

"I'll see you soon, Austin," was all I could manage, through my thick throat and already tearful eyes. He took my face in his hands and stared deeply into my eyes.

"Come home. Even if it's not today, or tomorrow, or next week, or next month. Please just come home. But just so you realize this if you haven't already, every single day you spend without us is one less day I get to spend with you, the love of my life," he said quietly. "One less movie night, one less day out shopping, one less lazy day where all we do is lay in bed together laughing." He paused. "One less day I get to show you how much I love you."

He pulled away from me, and gave me one last look, before hesitating and kissing my cheek. All the while, I stood there speechless.

And then he didn't smile at me, or hug me, or do anything, for that matter. He just backed away, grabbing his luggage and joined Dez and Trish. All I could do was stare in amazement at how stupid I was. All I could do was bask in the stupid imaginary world I got myself into. And I hated it.

So I went back to my hotel, poured myself a hot, HOT cup of coffee and curled up in my bed. And got even angrier with myself. How could I be so damn stupid? If I knew I was never going to go back home, why did I decide to meet up with them? Why did I sleep with Austin? Why didn't I cancel the show? Why did I let myself get so caught up in my feelings like I always did? I stripped the entire bed of its bedclothes and put the entire lot in the washing machine to erase any remnants of the events of a few nights ago. And then, on my itchy mattress, I curled up again into a ball, and cried my eyes out, hoping that crying myself to sleep might help.

* * *

I slept all the way through till the early hours of the morning, then fell asleep again. I could hear my phone pinging, and was pretty sure that I had something important to do that Tuesday morning, but at that point, I really didn't care. It was only as my phone started pinging and pinging at around three in the morning that I forced myself out of bed and grabbed my phone from my bedside table. I swore quite loudly, and my head was buzzing and spinning, but when I scrolled through the list of notifications on my phone with my blurry eyes, I was shocked to see how long it was.

It was our group chat. I rubbed my eyes and started reading from a random message.

Trish: Austin, calm down! She's going to be okay

Dez: Yeah, you're going to scare Ally when she wakes up

Austin: She should be scared! I come home to find out that my little sister is in hospital with bruises all over her body and you're telling me I shouldn't freak out?

Trish: Okay, freak out but why did you write it on the group chat? You're going to worry Ally sick

* * *

Oh my gosh.

Alyssa was in hospital?

I scrolled further towards the bottom.

* * *

Austin: I just thought she should know, alright? Ally, if you wake up and see this, I don't want you to be worried. She's gonna be fine

Trish: THEN WHY DID YOU TELL HER FOR CRYING OUT LOUD

Ally: Oh my gosh? What happened? Actually don't say anything, I'm on my way ASAP. Message the hospital room before I board, which will b ASAP

* * *

I went into my storage area and grabbed a small suitcase, the smallest one I could find. I needed some sort of excuse not to start living there again when I went back to Miami. Then I ran to my wardrobe, clipped my hair back and literally grabbed random piles of clothes and stuffed them in the suitcase.

"Siri, when is the next flight to Miami, Florida?" I asked, my breath heavy.

"The next flight to Miami, Florida is in one hour and fifteen minutes. You will be able to check in now. The gate will close in approximately forty five minutes," the automated voice dictated to me.

I swore again, realizing how little time I had to get to the airport, and grabbed a few pairs of shoes, then ran to the bathroom to assemble an emergency makeup bag, all the while swearing. I looked at myself in the mirror for a brief moment, and nearly burst into tears, realizing how bad my decision to stay here was.

"Ah, mademoiselle," the receptionist called to me, confused as to why I was in such a rush at three in the morning. "Where are you off to so early?"

"Miami, Jean-Paul," I said hastily. "Here's my key for safe-keeping."

"Your hometown? Ah, I do so hope you return," he said.

"Of course I'll be returning!" I scoffed rather rudely. Why did everyone think I didn't belong here? "My heart belongs to Paris. I'm sure of it!"

And with that, I literally legged it to my car, realizing there'd be no taxis that time of morning. I drove faster than I would have ever dared before finally arriving at the airport, checking in, passing security and crossing straight into the gate after purchasing a last minute ticket. Don't even want to go into how much it cost, not to mention how much parking my car in the long-stay car park cost. But it was for my angel Alyssa.

All through the journey back home, I tried not to think about facing my home. The home that all four of us had poured half of our earnings into, yet I abandoned it like it was nothing to me. I couldn't bear the thought of opening the door to my old room, seeing all the things I hadn't even been bothered to pack, all the books I had left to read, all the clothes that I probably would never even look at again.

"Heeeeeeeeeey," I was interrupted by one of the air hostesses who had nervously made her way over to me. "Aren't you Ally Dawson?"

"Um, yeah, I am," I smiled forcefully at her, half grimacing. I knew in my head that this air hostess would tell her best friend back home that she'd seen me who would tell her boyfriend who would tell his sister who was a famous Hollywood blogger and just like that, stories would rise up about the long lost Ally Dawson finally coming home to her roots and her boyfriend.

"Uh, sorry," she said awkwardly, "I'm a huge fan actually, and I was wondering why you were going back home, considering..."

"The fact that I haven't been there in three years? Well, I have some family issues to attend to," I said again, forcefully. The only thing worse than having stories written about you is having stories about you being a stuck-up, rude role model written.

"Ah, well I'm sorry for invading your space or anything, but could I please have a picture with you? Like I said, I'm a-"

"Sure," I said quickly, trying to speed up this awkward moment, and smiling for her camera, before giving her a quick nice-to-meet-you, which was her cue to leave.

"I am pleased to announce that we are beginning our descent and should be arriving in Miami, Florida within the next twenty minutes. Please will you fasten your seatbelts and return your seats to the upright positions as we begin our descent. It seems to be a particularly unpleasant day here in Miami, with highs of around 28. We would like to thank you for choosing to travel with us, and hope you have had a pleasant journey."

Well then.

I glanced out of my window nervously, expecting some kind of terrible weather, but all I could see was sunshine. It was Miami, I realized, and found myself smiling at how used to I had gotten to Parisian weather, and that 28 degrees in Miami was regarded as terrible weather. When I got out of the plane, I whisked myself out of the airport as soon as I could, so as to avoid anyone snapping a picture of me, and I got into a taxi as soon as I could. I can confidently say that the weirdest part of my day was telling the taxi driver to take me to my home. I hadn't done it in so long, yet it came out of my mouth like something I said every day.

I took a deep breath, and fumbled through my bag for the keys that I hadn't reached for in three years. I opened the door.

Everything was the same, and I couldn't help but feel happy, just for a second or two that I was home, that I was in the vast, beautiful hallway of my home, and that maybe, just one day, things could go back to how they used to be.

"Ally?" my mom's voice came. I looked up at her. "Sweetheart! I didn't know you were planning on coming home for Christmas. I could have-"

"Spare me, mom. Where are the others?" I interrupted, shutting my eyes. I could sense the shock on my mother's face. Before I'd left, I wouldn't have EVER dared to get rude to my own mom.

"T-they're at the hospital," she said quietly.

"Great. I only came here to drop my luggage anyway," I replied bluntly.

"Ally, I-" she started.

"What the hell are _you_ doing back home?" I heard Austin's mom ask, coming down the stairs, folding her arms, giving me an evil glare.

"Are the two ladies having an argument again? GIVE ME A BREAK!" shouted his dad, storming in the hallway before stopping when he saw me, his face turning pale and his eyes narrowed, glaring at me. "What is _she_ doing here?"

"I could ask you all the same question, actually," I replied coolly. I was not in the mood to be nice today. "Just so you know, I'm home now. And I'm angry. If any of you two dare ask me what I'm doing in my own house ever again, you will be out. By hook or by crook. I am done with each and every one of your bullshit."

"You would never kick us-"

"I have lost every inch of respect that I ever had for every one of you. Your daughter is wound up in hospital right now-"

"How dare you tell us how to raise our own child?" Mimi shouted, angry. I glared at her, unable to understand how horrible she was to her own child.

"How _dare_ I? I'll tell you why! Because you're standing in _my_ house, sleeping in _my_ rooms, bathing using water _I_ pay for. Because you hurt your own child in _my_ house. Because that _child_ of yours is important to me! Because while you and my parents squabbled day in and day out while your child was a baby, I looked after her. I cared for her, I nurtured her. I raised her into the lovely little girl she turned out to be."

"Yeah, and you turned your back on her," Mike scoffed.

"I didn't turn my back on her, you soulless man," I snarled, "I turned my back on you."

And with that, I dropped my suitcase by the staircase and left the house again to catch a taxi. I didn't regret a word I'd said, but all I did know, is that this time I wasn't playing around.

"Where is she?" I asked frantically to myself, since my phone wasn't working. "Um, would you be able to tell me which ward Alyssa Moon is in?"

"She can only be visited by family. May I have proof of ID?"

"I'm basically family. Ally Dawson."

"Oh," the receptionist said quietly, processing this in her head. I shut my eyes, telling myself I was not going to get angry at her, even though I was fully aware I was about to snap. "So you're back in Miami-"

"Cut the crap, woman. Tell me where she is, now, before I lose. My. Shit," I said through gritted teeth.

"Level three, ward B," she said, shocked.

I literally ran up the stairs to the ward where I finally saw three heads all looking over a bed.

"Guys," I panted, making my way over here. "I made it."

"Shhhhhh," they all shushed me. I peered over them, and covered my mouth, both to keep myself from screaming and to show my shock.

Sure enough, there she was, laying there like a fallen angel, her loose blonde curls laying around her head. Her face had two huge bruises on them, and I didn't even want to see the rest of her body. I closed my eyes and sat praying for a little while. I wasn't a believer, but I knew someone or something out there, some kind of divine force could at least try to help her. Then I opened my eyes and grew angry again. I pulled Trish by her shirt and walked out of the ward to where we could talk without waking Alyssa up.

"What happened?" I practically screamed.

"She was in hospital when we arrived," she said shakily. "We got home and the first person Austin wanted to see was Alyssa, and he couldn't find her anywhere, and his stupid parents wouldn't say anything about it. And your mom wasn't home and your dad wasn't there, and..."

"And then?"

"And then Austin had to get in a physical fight with his dad to get an answer out of him. He wasn't even ashamed," Trish whispered, her eyes filling with tears.

"What did he say? I'm going to scream in a second. Is it even physically possible for a parent to feel inclined to do this to their child?" I asked, disgusted.

"He said that she kept crying for you, and he kept telling her that you were never coming back, and that you were a...a terrible person," Trish said. "But Alyssa wouldn't take it. She threw a tantrum, and even fought back when he said terrible things about you, and then he just snapped and lost it, and started... beating her."

"We need to tell the police," I said. "That's not safe. That's child abuse."

"Ally, we can't," Trish said quietly, and only then did I look up and get really confused.

"Why not? Have you seen our beautiful girl's face?"

"Yes, but we can't. What will we do about the mom? She'll still be there, and she's not exactly nice to Alyssa either. Also...Mike told Austin he shouldn't even bother taking him to court, as there's no real proof that it didn't happen at school, and he has lawyers that will twist the story completely if he wanted to."

"But what about Alyssa herself? She'll talk, she's a brave, strong girl," I said.

"She can't even bear to look at him. He came to the hospital once and she bawled her eyes out. We had to make him leave," Trish explained. "She's terrified of her father."

"She should be. Let's go back," I said quietly. "Trish, this isn't right. We have to do something about this little girl before she grows up scarred. At least whatever's happening to us now didn't happen to us since when we were born. This little girl has had so much happen in her life since she was like one year old. If we feel like this now, imagine how she'll feel when she's our age."

"You're right," she whispered back. "It's just how we go about it that's the hard part."

"Don't worry," I said. "I have a few ideas of my own."

When we went back to her little bed, she was wrapped up in Austin's arms. When she heard approaching footsteps, she quickly glanced over at us as if she were scared, and immediately my heart felt like it was tightening. I was going to lose it. How could such a beautiful girl be a victim of something like this.

"Hi my princess," I spoke quietly, my breath heavy.

"Ally," she replied. "You said you would come and you came!"

Instantly, she looked happier and more excited. Her innocent mind was something I often envied. Little did she know that I wasn't originally going to keep to our little promise.

"Yeah!" I said, trying to look happy for her. "Of course I would come. I've missed you too much, beautiful." I took her in my arms, where she started crying again, and I started shushing her gently, before realizing it was best for her to cry and cry and cry until she had gotten it all out.

"It's gonna be okay, I promise," I said, and gently rocked her, kissing her forehead. Austin sat on the other side of the bed, shaking his head, worried.

"This isn't safe for her," I mouthed to him. He shrugged as though he simply couldn't bear to think about it any more.

"Good news, Mr Moon," a nurse came and sat by the bed. "We think it's safe to discharge her tonight. Is that okay with you?"

"Yes, that'll be great. You're coming home, Alyssa!" Austin said enthusiastically, although we all knew, including the innocent five year old, that there was nothing, and by nothing I mean absolutely NOTHING great about taking her home.

I didn't stop carrying her all the way home, even though she insisted upon walking.

"I can walk, you know, Ally," she said, unsmiling.

"Of course you can! But princesses don't walk," I said. I looked at her while we walked. "I know you're upset, baby. I'd be really upset too. But you can't be upset forever. Look at your brother and all of us. We love you so much. All I want is for you to be happy."

"But you gonna go," she said gloomily.

"I am not leaving your side. I swear it," I told her.

"Really?" she asked in her high, innocent voice.

"Really. And I've bought you so many dolls to play with when we get home, alright?"

When we got home, we were, surprisingly, greeted by all four of our parents.

"Oh, darling!" Mimi squealed, rushing over to collect Alyssa. As if she cared. I moved aside and Austin blocked her view.

"What the hell are you doing again?" Mike asked. "Give her to us, now."

"I don't think so," Austin said adamantly. "She doesn't want to be with you two right now."

"And who the hell do you think you are to be judging that?" Mike's voice grew louder.

"Oh, for crying out loud," Dez burst out. "This is a little girl. Stop scaring her more than you already have."

"Give her to us. Now," Mike said. I grew scared. If this was going to grow into a physical fight, I didn't know what I was going to do.

"No," Austin said. "Move out of the way now."

"I'm not going anywhere until you give me my daughter. She's mine," Mike insisted.

"Like I said when I first arrived," I stepped out and said, "You are standing in _my_ house. Therefore, you live by _my_ rules. Austin may be afraid to file a report entitled child abuse, but let me assure you of one thing. I'm not. Trish? What's your say?"

"I agree. I want you all out of our house as soon as possible," she said. "I'm tired of all this. We aren't children anymore."

"Fine," Mimi said. "You'll have to give us Alyssa for that."

"Over my dead body," I retorted.

"Then tell me, you oh-so-clever girl," Mike said, and I flinched, "What exactly are you going to do? I know you like to think that Alyssa is your child, but she isn't. I hate to break it to you."

"Oh, she may not be my child by genetics," I spat, "But I've definitely proved to be more than a parent than you two ever did."

"That's it," Austin said. I could tell he'd had enough. "I'm calling the police right now to place a restraining order. Alyssa will be safe in our custody, and all of you lot can sod off for all I care."

"Austin, dear!" Mimi exclaimed in shock.

"Don't 'Austin, dear' me, mom. I want you all out. Now," he said quietly. "She doesn't deserve this."

"Fine, Austin. I'm sorry. We're...sorry," his mom said. "We won't talk to her or do anything to her. You..you know we have nowhere else to go, son."

"Neither do I, Ally. I'm sorry," my mom said.

"Stay, then. It's only out of pity," I said, addressing both our parents. "And if you," I said, pointing to Mike, "Do anything to this little girl, you won't see the end of this matter. I swear it."

It was late at that time, so I pushed everyone out of the way and took the little girl to my bedroom. I felt safer with her sleeping with me. I tucked her into bed, and told her not to worry.

"I'm here with you, beautiful. Nothing's going to happen so long as me, Austin, Dez or Trish are here with you."

"I love you, Ally. I missed you a lot," she said.

"I missed you too, Alyssa."

"Mind if I intrude?" came Austin's voice.

"Come in, Austin," I said.

"Are you okay, princess?" he asked her.

"I am now you are both with me," she replied, and I smiled. "He told me that you were the worst thing to ever happen to our family, Ally. I told him he was wrong." I couldn't speak. She slowly drifted to sleep, in both of our arms, and somehow, Austin managed to gently lift her off us before tucking her in properly and locking the door to my room when we left.

"Austin, this house isn't safe for her. What are we going to do?" I asked him once we were out of anyone's sight.

"I have no idea," he replied bluntly.

"Are you...like...annoyed at me or something?" I asked awkwardly. I didn't know why he was acting so weirdly.

"No, Ally, I'm not annoyed at you, but if you must know, I'm just a little...annoyed...that it took Alyssa being admitted to hospital for you to come home. That's all," he said, and stormed off to his bedroom.

Welcome home, Ally. Welcome back to all the drama and all the fights and all the not wanting to get out of bed because something bad was bound to happen. It was foolish for me to think I could forget about everything, anyway. There was no point in getting angry at myself. I loved Alyssa too much to sit in Paris not knowing what was happening to her.

I was sick of my life being like this.

I had to do something. And even if that something didn't include me sorting my own life out, I had to at least create some sort of better future for this little girl. And I was going to.

* * *

 **A/N: PLEASE REVIEW**

 **HOPE YOU'RE ENJOYING THE STORY. IF U HAVE ANY QUESTIONS JUST ASK THEM IN THE REVIEW BOX PLEASE AND I'LL BE HAPPY TO ANSWER THEM IN THE NEXT CHAPTER. X**

 **WHICH IS COMING V SOON!**


	8. Chapter 8

Austin's POV

I woke up the next day bright and early, which was weird, because I never woke up until the late hours, especially during holiday season, and particularly since, well, in our house, there isn't really much to wake up for. But there was one thing that made me jump out of bed as soon as my eyes opened, and that was Alyssa. I had to see how she was, if she was okay, and if there was anything I could do to make her feel better.

But then again, she was sleeping in Ally's room, and I knew I hadn't left things with her on a good note. I'd been angry yesterday, and confused and pretty much done with everything going on in our lives. It wasn't just that I was annoyed at Ally. And yes, I was annoyed at her. I hated how she came back just because of Alyssa. Selfish of me, I know, considering that her and Alyssa had the most special bond I'd ever seen in my life. But still, part of me was hoping that two days ago, when I left Paris, she might have stopped at the last minute and decided to join us.

I guess what I'm trying to say, is that I needed her back in my life. I was lost without her. We were a team, me and her. We could fight off anything that came our way. But now, I just knew it would take a lot more than her coming back to Miami for us to go back to the way things were.

Hesitantly, I knocked on her door, and she opened it almost immediately and sighed.

"Austin," she said briefly, before retreating back into her room. I followed her.

"Hi, Austin!" Alyssa said, and to my relief, she looked really happy, sitting there playing with the various dolls Ally had bought for her.

"How are you feeling?" I asked.

"I feel good," she replied. "Can we go outside today? I haven't been outside in a looooong time."

I realized, with a sinking feeling in my heart, that aside from going to the hospital, this little girl hadn't been out in three, nearly four weeks!

"We'll go out then. Where do you want to go?"

"We'll take her to Merrick Park shopping, since it's relatively quiet there. Trish and I were gonna make a few stops there anyway," I said. "If that's alright with you, that is."

"Fine by me," I said bluntly.

"Are you two arguing?" innocent Alyssa asked.

"Of course not, sweetheart!" Ally said sweetly.

"Yeah," I reiterated. "Of course not, sweetheart!" I mimicked her. She glared at me and Alyssa and I laughed.

"Come on, Alyssa. Let's get you ready," she said, and gave me a dirty look. I smirked.

Down at breakfast, my mom was sitting there, scrolling through her phone.

"Where are you all going to today?" she asked as brightly as she could, although I knew she would give anything to see my best friends die.

"Out," I replied.

"Look, Austin. The affair thing had a huge impact on everyone, okay? I tried to get over it but I simply couldn't, and I know you hate me because of it, but you have to understand that-"

"Just because I'm letting you live in my house doesn't mean I want to talk to you. I don't care about the fact that you've slept with my ex-girlfriend's dad. I'm over that. _We're_ long over that. What I care about is that you're letting Alyssa grow up the way no parent wants their child to grow up. Surrounded by negativity, constantly being shouted at, always sad, always alone. I'm not gonna let that happen."

"I never wanted it to happen, either-"

"Well you made it happen. You didn't even stop dad when he was beating her. Don't act like you weren't at home. You sat and let it happen and now she can't even go to school to kill some time off this terrible, terrible household. It's a good thing we're all home, or I feel like something horrible could have happened to her. I don't even want to think about it..."

She left the kitchen, and it seemed like that was Ally's mom's cue to enter.

"Good morning, Austin," she said, with a certain tone to her voice that I didn't like.

"Mrs Dawson," I acknowledged.

"Ms," she corrected. "I've been meaning to speak with you, actually."

"Oh, joy. I wonder what the third most annoying member of this household I've had to encounter today has to say to me!" I rolled my eyes.

"I just wanted to tell you that whatever you're thinking of doing to make Ally yours again is not going to work. She was so much better off in Paris without you. So much so that I'm regretting not stepping in while your little sister was getting hurt-"

"Mother!" Ally's voice came from the other side of the room. "Why are you being like this? I know you hate Austin and his parents because of everything, but are you seriously forcing me to never speak to you again too?"

"Ally, you know that everything I'm saying is for the best-"

"You don't know me as well as you think you do! Leave Austin out of my life. Why does everything about me have to include him? Just LEAVE it alone, mom. I can handle life myself," she ranted, and I won't lie, I was slightly offended. Why does everything about her have to include me? Hmm, well, maybe because we're possibly the most perfectly matched couple to ever walk the streets of Miami? But I guess every relationship has its flaws, and in our relationship, it was that Ally was the most easily influenced, confused and stupid girl ever. I was wrong to have thought that maybe in three years she might have realized that we were meant to be together, but clearly not. I was just so angry. I'd never found it so hard to make a girl mine, and it was ironic how the girl I actually really wanted, didn't even want to be mine.

"Are you ready to go, then?" I asked her uncertainly.

"Yeah, I guess. Oh, and put on a good show for Alyssa. We're the only people she really has," she said, before going to grab her jacket.

I can't lie. In her skinny jeans, tight grey turtleneck and biker jacket, she looked really good. Not to mention the heeled boots she was wearing. Composure, Austin. You can't let her get away with the way she's behaving. I think part of the reason I was so angry at her was because, well, we slept together. And we hadn't even spoken about it since. You don't just do something like that and forget about it, right? Am I right? Tell me I'm right.

"Trish!" Alyssa squeaked. "Can you buy me that nice ice-cream?"

"Of course!" Trish replied. "Come with Dez and I."

Leaving me and Ally alone. Great. Actually, greater than great! It gave me an opportunity to try to talk about, you know...

"I think we need to talk about-"

"Yeah, I think so too. She's too young to be going through something like this," she interrupted, closing her eyes.

Erm. I was going to ask her to talk about how we had sex a few nights ago.

"Yeah, uh, you're right, I mean..."

"Wait...what did you want to talk about?" she asked curiously.

"Nothing," I stammered. Pull yourself together, man!

"O..kay," she looked at me as if I were a complete weirdo. "I need to get back, obviously. But I can't leave until I know she's okay, and by okay I mean nothing like that can ever happen to her again."

I sighed.

"Austin, we've been through this," she said. "Plus, you seem more than annoyed at me right now, so I think it's best we keep out of each other's way."

She got up to walk to a shop or something. I pulled her back by her arm.

"I want to know if you care at all about, well, us," I said. She looked at me, as though she'd suddenly realized something.

"I know what's going on! You're jealous because I came back here for Alyssa, and not for you!" she grinned. "You idiot."

"Pffft, am not," I denied. "I just don't understand why you can't talk to me about how we _slept_ together a few nights ago. It's kind of a big deal for girls, I hear."

She looked at the floor. Then she looked up at me again, some sort of resilience burning in her eyes.

"Yeah, we slept together. It was...good. Quite good. But that's not what's on my mind right now. Stop being silly," she said. "I've been meaning to ask you this too, actually. Alyssa's granted time off school, isn't she? How long?"

"Till the end of next term, so like April of next year," I replied.

"Oh, it's just because...you know, I've been thinking...maybe I could take her to Paris for a little while at least. Just so she can get away from-"

"Are you freaking insane?" I asked her, fuming. "Do you really think that I'm gonna let my little sister get whisked away from me? When will I see her next, in the next three years?"

"It's not like that-"

"But it is! It is like that, Ally. I get that she needs you, but she needs you with her here. I'm done with trying to convince you that you don't belong in that stupid city for hopeless romantics, but you have to know that Alyssa doesn't belong there either."

"I'm not trying to take her there to live! She can spend some time with me and I can give her the care she's been missing!"

"No," I insisted. "That's that. You're not taking her."

She stared at me, and for a moment there I felt like we were going to have a full-blown argument, and then she pouted, and then she gave up.

"Fine," she stared at me coldly. "I guess you want to abandon us both to a life of misery, since I'm not leaving this place until I know that she is being cared for the way she should."

"Stay then," I replied equally as coldly. "I wish you a pleasant stay. Since I know it's going to be temporary, anyway."

"You always were so stubborn, Austin. You just can't seem to see past this little fairytale world where everyone's happy."

"Well forgive me for not caring about what other people think. We're famous, and we have been for nearly five years. Get. Over. It," I retorted.

"You know what? Do what you want, since I'm such an uncaring, bitter, stubborn person."

"Well do you know what?" I shouted. "Maybe my dad was right. Maybe you are the worst thing to have happened to me. There. I said it."

I instantly bit my tongue and regretted what I'd said. Oh my god. I expected her to start crying, or tear up, but I'd underestimated how emotionally strong Ally was.

"Likewise," she said very slowly. "I wish you had never walked into my practice room that day. If I could, I would burn that practice room to the ground."

And with that, she turned and walked away. I'd never felt so broken in my life.

"Hey, princess!" she exclaimed, picking up Alyssa. "Too much ice-cream is bad for you, you know. Trish, why'd you buy her two?"

"Dis one's for you!" Alyssa said, and gave me a cookies and cream tub. "I know you like cookie n cream!"

"Thanks besties! My girls know me too well," she smiled, and took it from them. She was so good at faking happiness. I wish I was as good as she was.

We stopped by the park, and Ally and her went off to play on the swings and slides.

"What's wrong, man?" Dez asked.

"Nothing," I said.

"What did she say? I can almost guarantee you that she doesn't mean it," Trish said.

"She said that if she could, she'd burn the practice room where we first met to the ground," I said, looking at the ground.

"That's gotta hurt," Trish replied. "But she doesn't mean it."

"She wants to take Alyssa to Paris to stay with her," I went on.

"Why not? She does desperately need a change of scene, this little girl," Dez responded.

"I think so too," agreed Trish.

"Wait," I said, looking at both of them. "You want them to go back there?"

"If it's going to be the best thing for Alyssa, then yeah! Of course?" Trish said, confused.

I sighed.

"I see what's going on, buddy," Dez chuckled. "It's not about Alyssa being away from you, is it?"

"What do you mean? I care about that little girl more than I care about most people," I defended myself immediately.

"It's about Ally being away from you again. Ohhhh," Trish realized. I put my head in my hands. "Do you want my serious opinion as one of your best friends, and also Ally's best friend? She loves you a lot, and she doesn't know how to handle how much she loves you. On top of being a famous singer, living in the kind of household we live in, etcetera, she sometimes feels like she's losing control of her life when she's with you. But then she cares about me and about Dez and about her mom and dad and about Alyssa and about the world's opinion of her. She can't handle everything, but she thinks she can without you in her life. How we're going to get her to see that that's not the way to deal with her problems, I don't know. All I do know is that she cares about you just as much as she cares about Alyssa, if not more, and that's saying something, because she is obsessed with that little girl."

"Trust me," Dez said. "Obsessed isn't even the word. Have you seen the amount of designer clothes she's racked up for her?"

I smiled. Ally would be the perfect mother one day, I just knew it.

"So," I started again, looking over at my two best friends for more reassurance. "You think I should...set her free?"

"Not as such," Dez said. "She knows she won't be able to keep Alyssa with her for long, so she'll have to send her back, and if I'm correct, she won't be able to live alone any longer. It's not like we haven't lectured her about how we're not getting any younger enough. She knows fully well what she's doing with her life."

"Yeah," Trish agreed. "She's a silly girl, I'll give you that, but I know she's getting tired of letting her days slip by. She's going to crack any time soon. Trust me."

I hoped so. As I watched the new and improved, hotter, moodier Ally Dawson playing with my little sister, I couldn't help but fall in love with her all over again. She was perfect in every way. The way her eyes sparkled when you looked into them, the way her hair fell about her shoulders in gentle curls, the way her smile was enough to cure anyone's sadness ever. I didn't just love this girl. I was in love with her.

Alyssa came running up to me, panting.

"I'm so tired!" she squealed.

"Shall we go home, Alyssa?" Trish asked.

She looked uncertain, then asked: "Only if you all stay with me."

"I wouldn't leave you for the world," I smiled.

When we got home, we arrived to shouts and screams, and I almost immediately knew something was going on. I told Ally to wait with Alyssa and Trish outside before Dez and I went inside.

"Don't you dare tell me what to do! Go tell your daughter to stop meddling with my son," my dad was shouting. I looked at Ally's dad. No. This was not good. He had a black eye and was ready to fight my dad.

"Stop," I said.

"Stay out of this, son," my dad retorted.

"My daughter has done no wrong. Don't blame the success of my child on your damn insecurities," Ally's dad was shouting.

"You slept with my wife!" my dad was shouting, then he threw another punch. I winced, then literally ran back outside with Dez, shaking.

"You were right," I said to Ally. "Pack your bags and get on the next flight with Alyssa. It's the only way forward."

"But, Austin. You didn't want me to-"

"Just go," I said, cupping her face in my hands. "I would rather be away from you both myself than see you living in a place like this."

"What do you say, Alyssa? You up to taking on Paris with Ally?" Ally asked the little girl whose face was buried in her hair.

"Paris? Yay! I want to be with you forever, Ally," she said. She looked up at me. "And you, Austin."

I hugged them both, and I could see tears in Ally's eyes.

"I'm sorry," she mouthed at me. I smiled sadly at her.

"It's alright," I said. "It's sad to know things have come to this, though, right?"

She bit her lip and looked at the ground.

They were both packed within half an hour, and I helped them gather everything. Trish packed them some snacks and then we all set off to the airport together. Ally sighed.

"Back to Paris it is then," she said.

"You don't seem very excited," Trish commented, amused.

"It will be nice to have some company, I guess. Just the way I loved it when you guys were there with me," she replied.

"Keep her safe, please," I said, after a long period of not talking at all.

"I will guard her with my life."

"Gonna miss you Austin!" Alyssa said, and I took her into my arms. "Will you make mommy and daddy like me again?"

"They do like you, Alyssa," I said. "It may not seem like it, but they do. When you're older, I might explain it to you, but for now, you're too young to be involved in it."

"I'm not young! I'm nearly six years old!" she protested, and we all smiled at her innocence and determination to grow up.

"Princesses don't get involved in family arguments. They sit and wave their magic wands all day long," I tried.

"Those are fairies, Austin. Silly brother," she said, slapping me lightly. I pretended to scare her and pulled her onto my back and ran around, trying to make her happy in these last few moments.

"Love you, Alyssa," I said. I noticed Ally watching us intently.

"I love you! Brother Austin!" she squealed. Dez checked the flight times and walked back over to us.

"Gate closes in like ten minutes. They should really start going," he said. Immediately, I pulled Alyssa into a hug.

"I'll see you soon, princess," I said, and kissed her forehead. "Ally's gonna take good care of you."

"Don't cry, bro! I'm going to see you soon!" she said. "Ally and I are gonna have so much fun!"

"We are, aren't we?" Ally sounded excited. I knew she'd enjoy spending time with my little sister. They had a special bond. "She's gonna be fine," she whispered to me, as we walked towards the check-in point. "I won't rest until I find some kind of loophole in this contract that gives our stupid parents the right to stay in our home. I'm not prepared to live like this any longer." She seemed adamant.

"Same," I whispered. "We've already spoken to Trish's lawyer. We'll update you. For now, though, look after her. And please don't wait three years before you bring her back."

"She'll be back before the end of March, beginning of April, you have my word," she said. "And about the practice room thing...that wasn't true. If we get really famous and retire, I'm gonna convert that room into an exhibition in our little museum as being the most legendary room ever."

And with that, she left. Again. And I stood there and let it happen, waving at my little sister. The weirdest part was, I didn't even feel hurt or anything. I felt a sense of relief. Alyssa was in good hands. Now I had time to fix this whole parent problem. They needed to get out. And I was going to make sure of it.

* * *

 **Please review! Next chapter's coming soon x**


	9. Chapter 9

**Flash forward to mid March of the next year. Alyssa has been staying with Ally and it is coming to the end of her stay. Meanwhile, Austin, Dez and Trish are still stuck at home with their forever fighting parents trying to find a loophole in the contract which says that they are entitled to living in their home too. They are also trying to find a way to place a restraining order on them which means that Alyssa can live with the crew and not with her parents, particularly her abusive father.**

Ally's POV

Spring was just starting to come round the corner, and there was something about the soft breeze and calm streets that reminded me of exactly why I had bothered to come here. It was our second last week together. Alyssa and I. Numerous stories had already flooded the internet about me and Austin's little sister living in Paris, but I was beyond caring. Alyssa was having a great time, and we really got to bond while she was with me. We spent Christmas, New Year and my birthday together and I could tell that she loved it here.

"Ally," she asked me one day. "Do you love my brother?" I was taken aback, then I decided just to tell her.

"Yeah, a lot, actually," I laughed. "Why?"

"Because I can tell. Did you know a little secret?"

"Tell me!" I said.

"He loves you a lot too. But don't tell him I said that," she replied seriously. I burst out laughing at her innocence.

"Oh, Alyssa. You're the greatest little girl I've ever met," I laughed.

"And you're the greatest old girl I've ever met!"

"I'm not old!" I protested.

"You should be getting married soon. Are you going to marry Austin?"

"Of course not! And anyway, that's none of your business young lady," I scolded her through giggles.

She paused for a moment and looked at me.

"I'm going home soon, aren't I? Are you going to come with me?" she asked hopefully.

"Of course I am, sweetheart," I said. "But I'll have to come back here after a while. You've seen how busy I am here."

And sure enough, April 2nd came faster than I'd anticipated. We'd done all her catch-up work and had lots of fun at the same time, but I knew it was time for her to return to her brother. He'd slaughter me if I kept her any longer. I packed myself a small suitcase with the intention of staying in Miami a few days before returning again, and we left early that morning. I bought her some macaroons, since she seemed to have fallen in love with them as soon as she came. I couldn't help but wonder if this little girl was ever going to grow up happy without us, whether her life was destined to be a mess.

When we arrived home after a tedious eight and a half hour journey, I could tell that while she was excited to see her brother, she was nervous as anything. I stooped down and fixed her dress for her, looking straight at her.

"Now," I said, "I don't want you to be afraid. I'm here with you. Nothing can happen to you so long as we're by your side, okay?"

She seemed to brighten up at that, and took my hand. When we arrived home, she was showered by hugs and kisses and when Austin saw my suitcase, his face instantly lit up.

"You're back!" he said, and pulled me into a hug. Well, for now at least, I thought.

"Hey," I asked. "Where's my mom?"

"She's gone back to Africa," Trish said.

"One down, two to go," Austin said.

"Why'd she go?" I asked.

"She just didn't care about whatever happened in this house anymore," Dez said. "I kind of respect that."

"Same," I sighed. "Any progress with the whole contract thing?"

"I'm getting there," Trish said.

"She's been out of the house all day," Austin told me. "Trying to make this thing work."

"Well I have an idea that could work," Dez said. "Why don't we make them _want_ to leave? Instead of it being the other way round."

"How should we do that?"

"I don't know, maybe throwing loads of loud parties or something," Dez suggested.

Trish rolled her eyes.

"One, the house would get messed up. Two, we have a five year old girl living in our house right now. Three, there are too many expensive things in this house," she said.

"We just have to wait a little longer," Austin said. "In the mean time, we should go grab dessert or something as a little coming-home present for Alyssa."

"Yeah, that's a good idea." I turned to open the door to leave, but not before Trish tugged my arm lightly and gave me a solemn look.

"We need to talk," she mouthed. I had a feeling it wasn't going to be good.

"I think I should probably take my stuff upstairs and get unpacked," I said quickly, and grabbed my suitcase, going up the stairs, Trish following me.

When I got into my room, I slumped down on my bed and Trish did so too, sighing.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Well," she started. "You know how we're trying to find a loophole in the contract?"

"Yeah?"

"I found one," she said uncertainly.

"Trish!" I exclaimed. "That's great!" I hugged her. "Why didn't you say it downstairs?"

"Because, Ally," she said quietly, pulling away from me. "You're not going to like it."

"What is it? I don't care if it's money involved, I'll pay it."

"It's not about money..." she trailed off.

"Hey," I said, looking at her. "I'll do anything to make this house what it was when we first bought it. Anything."

"You have to marry Austin," she burst out.

I froze. I laughed shakily, a rush of fear coming over me.

"Anything but that," I said quietly.

"Exactly," she said, her head in her hands.

"Okay," I said. "I'll help you find another way. There's got to be another way, right?"

"Yeah," she said slowly. "Death."

I sighed, and put my head in my hands. I couldn't believe that this was happening.

"And there's no other way?" I asked, my voice cracking. Trish put her arm around me and looked at me, upset.

"Between you and me, the lawyer gave me the lowdown on this entire thing a month and a half ago. I just couldn't tell you," she said solemnly.

"He doesn't know, right?" I asked hopefully. "There can't be another thing putting a strain on our relationship. Our relationship...even if we had a relationship, I know he wouldn't want it to be forced."

"I know," Trish said. "That's why we can't tell them."

We exchanged sad looks.

"Thirteen year old us would have never thought, even for a second, that things would end up like this," I commented.

"My first ever boyfriend dumped me," Trish remembered, "And we resolved to never date boys, and go and live in New York as two single ladies."

"We were so eager," I laughed. "We really did think we could take on the world."

"And then it came to it," Trish finished sadly. "And we have no idea where to start."

"What are we going to do?" I asked finally. "I mean, I always did figure that since we both like each other so much, maybe we would have ended up married, right? But now..even if we did get married, we're both not ready for something like that. And I don't want to marry him to fulfill something out of a contract."

"You don't want to marry him anyway, Ally," Trish said. I looked at her. "You know he'll sit waiting for you forever."

* * *

Austin's POV

I knocked on the door. It had been more than an hour now.

"Are you guys coming, or not?" I called. I immediately heard scuffling of feet.

"Shit, do you think he heard?" I heard Trish ask, nervous. Heard what?

"Five minutes," Ally shouted.

I went downstairs, wondering what the topic of their conversation was. Something serious. Something embarrassing, maybe. I could practically hear the embarrassment in Ally's voice.

The phone was ringing.

"Hello?" I answered the home phone. "Yes, it's Austin. Yeah, she doesn't have her phone, it's gone in for repairs. Yeah, I can pass on the message if you want."

"Oh," the voice answered. "That would be great. It was just regarding the marriage clause we've been discussing in the contract. I'm sure you know about it?"

Huh?

"I'm not sure I do," I replied.

"Trish hasn't taken you through it? Surprising, since it involves a whole lot of you," the lady on the phone responded, a little confused.

"Mind taking me through it?"

"Well, Trish can give you all the details, but long story short, since you're the main owner of the house, you have to marry one of the other main owners of the house, thereby leaving the full rights of the house with you two. It's a lot more complicated than that, really," she said.

I literally froze. My heart seemed to have stopped beating.

"Marriage?" I croaked.

"Mhm," the lady murmured. "Listen, Austin, I didn't mean to throw it at you, I mean, I thought Trish would have told you. Perhaps you should talk to-"

"Yeah," I said. "Trish should have told me. Thanks for calling though, I'll pass on the message."

I cut off the phone, and didn't really know what to do.

"You ready to go?" Trish asked, Ally behind her with Alyssa holding her hand. I felt like throwing up.

"Yeah, I guess," I said. They both gave me weird looks.

"Hey, I know this really cool new dessert place we can go to," Trish said.

"Great," I said. "Sit in the front with me. We need to talk."

The car journey to the dessert place started off with a whole lot of Alyssa making noise, but that was okay, because I needed to talk to her in private, right away.

"You seem kind of...weird. Is everything okay?" she asked me, genuinely concerned. I didn't answer. Then I got a little annoyed.

"I was just wondering when you were going to tell me that I have to get married to Ally to turn my parents out of our house," I snapped.

The car went to an awkward silence. Even Alyssa stopped squealing.

"This isn't the right time to talk about this, Austin," Trish said. "I was going to tell you-"

"Actually, it is," Ally broke in. "Can we just take a moment to appreciate the fact that this whole marriage thing could actually work."

"I'm not ready to get married," I said, bewildered, because hold the phone. Ally Dawson agreeing to marriage to ME within hours of returning to her home town was not something you saw every day.

"Well neither am I," she said. "Anything to restore peace."

"So what I'm hearing, is that marriage to you is nothing but signing a piece of paper to kick my parents out of our house. Because that's not what it is to me," I said.

"Will you two shut up?" Dez asked. "There's a little girl back here who is more intelligent than you guys think."

I sighed, and hit the accelerator hard. There was no way this was happening.

* * *

Ally's POV

We put up a front for the rest of the little outing, until we got back home and Alyssa had a nap. Austin's parents were both out, and I just knew that things were going to get heated up. As a group of friends we rarely ever fought, but today I could see it coming.

"You're kidding me," Austin said when we were all sitting in the lounge area. "There has got to be another way."

"Forgive me if I hesitated in telling you this, Austin," Trish snapped, "But the only other way is both sets of your parents dying."

"Besides," I said, "It won't have to be like we actually are married. We can go about our lives like always."

"Yeah, well that's the thing, isn't it," he said, looking straight at me. "I don't want to be married to someone when a, I don't want to be married, and b, they don't want to be married."

"We don't have to be married married!"

"But we'll still be married. I'd only ever propose to someone if I actually wanted to marry them, as in spend the rest of our lives together marry, have children marry. And things aren't looking like that for us," he said.

"See, this is why she didn't want to tell you!" Dez exclaimed. I put my head in my hands. Oh no.

"Hold up," Austin started, getting angry. "You knew about this?"

"Of course I did, buddy. There was just no easy way of telling you. Either of you, to be honest," he replied.

"You two," Trish said slowly, pointing at Austin and I, "Need to talk about this alone."

"Yeah?" I asked, standing up. "Well forgive _me_ if I've had enough of this entire topic that I don't want to speak to any of you," I snapped, walking up to my bedroom. I could practically feel Austin's footsteps behind me.

"Fine," he said quietly, shutting the door of my room slowly. "We can get married."

"Fine, we can get married?" I practically shouted. "What do you mean, fine?"

At this point, I didn't even understand what I was talking about anymore. All I knew is that I could not be married to Austin, even though I could fully see our future together. I just couldn't relieve the hatred and negativity surrounding us.

"You're the one that told me just a minute ago that we didn't have to be married married!"

"WE'RE NOT GOING TO GET MARRIED FULL STOP!" I screamed. "I wouldn't marry you if you were the last man alive."

"Why?" he asked, not fazed. He had me lost for words.

"Because everything about us is wrong. You can go about pretending like our parents don't exist, but the truth is that we're their children, and somewhere along the way shit went wrong with them and they're blaming us. They hate us together. We can go about pretending they aren't here anymore once they're out of this house but they'll still exist, Austin! We'll still lay in bed thinking about what they're doing, and feel guilty about not giving them what they wanted. And the day that they die, we'll go to their graves with our children knowing that we did them wrong. We can go about pretending that the entire world that judges us doesn't exist, but they do! When our children grow up and come across an ancient article about us, there will be no denying anything. You think that us being together can be all perfect because we love each other, and believe me, I love you more than I could love anyone in the world, but all we are is the perfect couple. We could never work as husband and wife," I shouted, all my pent-up anger coming out of me. Opposite me, Austin stood, letting my words sink in.

"Yeah, and then one day," he interjected, "In the future, you might have a family of your own, and I might have a family of my own, and one day, like in Paris, we may cross paths, and say hi, and talk about how it's been forever since we last saw each other. I'd tell you how your daughter had your hair, and you'd tell me about how mine had my eyes, and we'd sit there wondering just what could have been."

"Just what could have been," I scoffed, the anger forever rising in me. "Just what could have been? Listen to yourself! You think our lives are a fairytale because that's what the public has made them into. I can't live pretending that my knight in shining armour saved me from the trouble in my life that were my parents. I can't go to award shows, and movie premieres with you and let cameras snap pictures of us talking about us as star-crossed lovers. Because star-crossed isn't what I want!"

"Then what the hell do you want? It's all fun and games fooling around with me in Paris-"

"That was a mistake."

"-but when it actually comes to it, you can't even decide between what you want. You're the one who thinks your life is a fairytale, Ally, not me. But you've made your decision. We won't get married."

"We will get married. I won't have a little girl grow up to become someone like me."

"Alyssa can't be the reason we get married. We're not getting married," he insisted.

"YES SHE CAN!" I shouted. "We are getting married."

"No, we're not," he shook his head. "I'll kidnap her and move to a remote island. I'll go MIA, but I won't marry you."

"Why are you being like this?"

"Why are _you_ being like this?"

"That's it," I said, "I can't take this anymore."

"You're going to up and leave. How predictable. But if I'm honest, I'd be stupid to marry someone like you. Someone who ups and leaves at the most stupid things. Who knows, you could even up and leave our children if we were married," he said.

"There's too much negative energy in this house. And yeah, sure, of course I'd do that," I said coolly getting some more things from my room to pack.

"If you leave again," he said quietly, "I don't know what I'm going to do."

"Then find something to do. Don't look for me because I don't want to be found," I snapped quite rudely. God knows what had come over me. I didn't even feel guilty. He stood there, upset, while I threw some more things into my suitcase. I gave him a long look.

And with that, I left. For the third time. And I was not coming back.


	10. Chapter 10

**It's another flash forward! To a year later. There's some Selena Gomez lyrics in here too, since I've been really loving her new album lately.**

Ally's POV

Same old, same old. I redecorated my suite, though. Looks quite fresh. I'd been particularly bored lately, what with the departure (more like escape) of my French boyfriend Ansel. He'd been a lovely addition to my life, I won't lie. But my mind just kept drifting back to that beautiful place known as no other than Miami, FL. I sighed. Like I said, same old. Nothing to see here.

Austin and I had resolved our little feud from a year ago, but over text. I felt extra guilty a few months later. It went a little bit like...

Ally: Look, I'm sorry. Everything was so messed up and I don't want you to think that I left because of anything else but the fact that I genuinely couldn't help it anymore. Forgive me?

Austin: I forgive you. Honestly, I think it's time we both stopped acting silly about this whole us thing. If it's not meant to be, then it's not meant to be.

Ally: Friends? Oh, and happy birthday for tomorrow.

Austin: 21. I feel so old. Old enough to make this whole "friends" thing work.

Ally: Same, it's time we both grew up

So, yeah. I suppose you could say that we were still best friends. I didn't know what it was, but he just seemed so much happier these days. I felt happy for him. I guess curiosity was my only excuse for doing what I did next. I went back to Miami. Things had seemed so much brighter, and we were all ten times happier for some reason, so I decided to pay a little visit back home. To see everyone.

* * *

Austin's POV

Things were getting considerably better since Ally left, I won't lie. And since Cassidy and I spoke. Yeah, you heard that right. She'd come to our home a few months after Ally had gone, and I was really confused about it at first. I had been an emotional mess.

"Hi," she said. "I just wanted to check up on you. See how things are."

"Things are good," I said slowly.

"Ally's in Paris?"

"Yeah. You'll be glad to know that I don't think she's coming back," I said, frowning.

She sighed and looked genuinely upset.

"I'm so sorry for doing what I did. It's been bugging me ever since. I guess I was just so jealous that you couldn't see past her," she cried.

"Ally and I are no longer on speaking terms," I said. ( **A/N: This is before they made up!** )

"Really?" Cassidy's face lit up. "Because I was wondering...you know, if maybe we could give us another shot. We were together four years, you know."

"I know."

"I just feel like you need to know that someone else can love you as much as she does, if not even more. I get that she was your first epic love, but love doesn't always work out. Life's too short to keep waiting. Which is why I'm here, I guess," she said brightly.

"Fine, I'll pick you up at eight," I said, sighing. She was right. Life was too short to keep waiting for Ally.

And I guess that's how Cassidy and I got back together. I realized that I could see more of a future with her than I could with Ally, possibly because I'd spent more than three years with her. But I knew I had to keep it quiet, and Cassidy agreed. I couldn't tell Ally yet either, and I didn't think she'd care, considering she was with some guy named Ansel. I knew Ally didn't care anymore.

We made up another few weeks down the line, and I could feel my old best friend Ally coming back to me. I liked things that way. Who knew, things could be working out after all. Then she decided to pay a visit, something which I thought would be great, and something which Trish was more than excited about. I knew she would support me in my decision to be with Cassidy, and especially supportive of the fact that my parents were getting happier that I wasn't with Ally. Things seemed to be turning in the right direction once and for all. And I was planning on something that would probably turn us in the right direction for good.

But I can't talk about that just yet.

* * *

Ally's POV

As I stepped out of the plane and caught that initial wave of heat against my face, I couldn't help but smile. I was home. I walked through the crowds of tourists trying to find the best way to South Beach and smiled even more at all the memories. I was finally home. And I wasn't even dreading going home, because, well, I knew where I stood with everyone. Even Austin.

I grabbed my home keys out of my bag, something that felt entirely foreign to me, and opened the door, breathing in that homely smell.

"I'm home-"

"SURPRISE!" a range of voices shouted. I grinned as my friends jumped out from behind the door and surprised me.

Then Trish and Cassidy (Cassidy?) rolled out a huge cake from the kitchen.

"Hi, guys," I laughed. "What was the need for all of this?"

"Figured you'd be staying a while. We're not letting you leave this time," Trish warned.

"I hope not," I chuckled. "Air France have seen enough of me. Pretty sure I have a crush on this one air host. He's so pretty. Hi, Cassidy."

"Hi Ally," she said, in a genuinely nice voice. I seemed to have missed a lot.

"Girls, come on upstairs with me and help me unpack," I said in a bright voice, trying to make everyone feel included. Everyone being Cassidy.

In my room, we all sat and unpacked my clothes, the girls complimenting some skirt I bought every now and then.

"So, you and Austin are a thing again?" I asked casually.

"Yeah...look, Ally, I'm so sorry about the whole fashion week-"

"Honestly, I'm over it. I'm so happy for you guys, seriously. It was about time things changed for good round here, and they really have with you being a part of the house," I said, smiling.

Yeah right. Every muscle inside me was shaking, every inch of my insides was overwhelmed with jealousy and hatred. I couldn't believe he would take her back after what she had done. I guess what bothered me the most was that things were so different...like Trish said before, I suppose I always knew that Austin would love me no matter what, and I took that for granted. But possibly the worst part to witness was how good they were together, especially in person. I had always seen them on the internet or in magazines, and I'd only ever seen them together for one day in Paris - the years before that were a blur. We were so young before, that I pretty much knew that he and Cassidy were never going to end up together. But as I sat watching them together now, I couldn't help but wonder what exactly I had given up.

It was only in those rare and precious moments, while I battled with the possibility of me absolutely ripping her hair out, that I somehow managed to see past how much I envied Cassidy. It really was all my fault. They could have broken up once, four years ago, but I ran away. They broke up again, for the second time, and I didn't take advantage of the situation. I guess it just really scared me just how close they were. I couldn't imagine him with anyone else but me a few weeks ago, but now I wasn't too sure. They were perfect. I always thought he would wait for me, even if I knew I wouldn't come back. I was selfish, and conceited, and wanted the best of everything. So I decided to keep my envy to myself. I was prepared to go along with this if Austin was happy.

Which he was. Very happy.

"Things really do seem to have changed around here," I said, going downstairs. "I'm so happy."

"You should stay a little longer."

I smiled and looked around my beautiful home.

"You know what? I think I might just," I grinned, and joined my best friends.

"Austin, dear!" Mimi's voice called, loud and shrill, from the door. "There's a man at the door for you."

"Oh joy," his father's voice added, at the sight of me. "Ally's back."

I frowned.

"Yeah, and she's staying," Trish retorted, and I smiled. "So you better get used to it."

"Cake, anyone?" Cassidy offered, while Austin went up to the door. All I could see was a man in a dark suit. Wonder what that was about, huh.

"Who was that?" I asked curiously, when he casually came and sat back down.

"Just some guy I know," he shrugged.

"You're not doing drugs I hope," I teased. "I've only been gone a year."

"Maybe, maybe not," he smiled to himself secretly. I looked at Trish. Trish looked at Dez.

"The redhead knows," she stated. "The redhead always knows."

Dez looked up, and pretended not to know what she was on about.

"What are you talking about?"

"Spill the beans, Dez," I said. "I do hope it's not drugs though."

"It's not drugs," Dez replied calmly. "My lips are sealed, don't bother asking again."

The two boys exchanged a secret look. Us girls raised our eyebrows.

"So, Ally," Trish broke the silence. "How's your boyfriend back home?"

Uh-oh.

"Oh, we broke up," I said, hoping not to make up some sort of cover story to make it seem like I had loads going for me in Paris. "My heart's always been here anyway."

"Well you're here now," Austin said. "And everything has sorted itself out. Just like we always wanted."

"Yeah," I lied. "Things can work now."

And they could work now that Cassidy was with Austin and not me, since his parents would be more accepting of that, and they wouldn't create trouble with us...or with Alyssa.

Later that evening, when Austin and Cassidy went out for dinner, Dez looked solemn. I knew something was up.

"You gonna tell us what's going on or not?" I demanded.

"That guy was from the jewelers," Dez stated.

"The jewelers?" Trish repeated, confused.

"It's getting really serious between them two. You might want to do something before he makes the biggest mistake of his life," he said, running a hand through his hair.

"Hold the phone," I said, bewildered. "That man delivered him...a ring?"

"Yes, Ally," Dez said slowly as if I clearly didn't understand. "Austin's gonna propose to Cassidy."

My jaw dropped. Trish turned around, shocked.

"That can't be true," she said slowly. "He's not serious."

"He is," Dez said. "He's been talking to me about it for months. But you didn't hear any of this from me, okay? He doesn't want you two to know yet."

"Yeah, fine, whatever," I said, still confused. "I guess I never really expected him to move on so quickly, I mean-"

"It's been four years since you two were ever in a real relationship and we're nearly twenty two. We're not children anymore," Dez said, and I felt his words dig deep into my soul.

"You're right. I made the biggest mistake of my life leaving this place," I said, my head in my hands. "But what can we do now? We can't just tell him not to marry her."

"Well that's the point," Trish said. "We can't do anything about it. It's marriage. It should be his choice."

"You guys," I wailed. "I've turned my entire life upside down."

"Yeah," Dez said, "I figured that perhaps breaking something like this to you would make you realize how much of an idiot you are, Ally."

"She's perfect," I cried.

"Even Alyssa loves her," Dez added.

"Dez! You're not exactly making her feel any better," Trish scolded.

"That says it all then! She truly is perfect," I muttered.

I was shaking by this point. It was enough trying not to picture them together, but picturing them on their wedding day, laughing and smiling and looking all perfect, congratulating her when she was expecting a child, rocking their child when she gave birth, helping dropping and picking her up from school...That could not happen.

"Ally, I wish there was something useful I could say," Trish tried, "But you really have put your foot in it this time."

"Has he really moved on? Like for real?" I asked quietly. She sighed.

"As your best friend, I can't lie to you. They're pretty sound as a couple," she said, putting her arm around me.

We sat like this for a few more minutes.

"Well," I broke the silence with a shaky voice, "I guess I'm going to have to find a way to get past this then. Because at the end of the day, his happiness is all that matters to me."

I left them both and went straight up to my room, wondering what to do next. I couldn't leave, not again. He'd know why. How could I have been so stupid? There was someone in my life who loved me with every inch of his soul and yet I decided to pass up on an entire lifetime of having his love.

But I couldn't let him live the rest of his life with someone like me either. Someone who so easily ups and leaves someone who loves her so much. He was right in moving on, and I can't say I blamed him for loving someone like Cassidy. Someone so beautiful, and not scarred, and just full of pure happiness. They brought out the best in each other. And we brought out the worst. But every time I pictured them together, every time I let my mind drift to what they were doing right at that moment, I wanted to scream. Maybe they were kissing. Maybe he was proposing to her right now. Why did she get to have him when he was meant for me? I wanted to throw up.

I rummaged through my suitcase until I found my songbook, something which was completely full. I found a notebook, and instead of screaming, I let my thoughts pour onto the paper, along with my tears.

 _Oh and I bet she has it all, bet she's beautiful, like you, like you_  
 _And I bet she has that touch, makes you fall in love, like you, like you_

 _I can taste her lipstick, and see her laying across your chest_  
 _I can feel the distance every time you remember her fingertips_  
 _Maybe I should be more like her_  
 _Maybe I should be more like her_  
 _I can taste her lipstick_  
 _It's like I'm kissing her too_  
 _She's perfec-_

I threw the book against my wall before finishing the last word and hugged my knees, letting the tears run free.

It was only as I heard a knock against my door and jumped up really fast that I decided to set him free. For real this time.

"Can I come in?" Austin's voice asked.

"Sure," I croaked.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," I said, smiling, although my face looked a mess. "Hayfever. I've not been here a while, remember."

He sat down beside me, and I almost cried again at the amount of distance he'd left between us.

"I have something to ask you," he said quietly. Damn. Was he going to propose to me? Ha ha.

"Sure," I squeaked, my voice all weird.

"As my best friend, you have to give me the best advice you could possibly give me, and nothing else."

"You haven't killed someone, have you?" I joked.

"I really like Cassidy," he said, ignoring my little joke. I gulped.

"I can tell," I replied. "You two are good together. You could have at least told me you were together." My throat was already growing thick.

"How? Over text? That wouldn't have been weird at all." His face lit up. "Do you mean it?" he asked hopefully.

"Yeah," I responded, with a genuine smile. "You are."

"Because I want to ask her to, you know, marry me," he said awkwardly.

"Are you sure about it?"

"Yeah," he replied. "Really sure. We're not getting any younger."

"True."

"So you think I should do it?"

"Well," I started. "I can't decide that for you, even as your best friend. You have to question yourself. When you look at her, does she make you never want to tear your eyes away? Would you want to wake up next to her every day of the rest of your life? Will she support you through each and every downfall of your life and be the best wife she could possibly be? Will she be a good mother to your children? Will she take perfect care of you for the rest of your life on this planet? Do you see yourself growing old with her?"

"Wow," he said. "Sorry, relationship whizz."

I laughed sadly. "Hardly." I frowned and looked at the floor.

"So what I'm hearing is...I have your blessing?" he asked after a minute of the most awkward silence ever.

I looked up at him, and all the years I had known him for seemed to flash by.

"Yeah," I smiled. "She's a lovely girl."

I hugged him.

He left.

I lay on my bed.

 _"Then find something to do. Don't look for me because I don't want to be found,"_ I had said.

I cried.


	11. Chapter 11

Ally's POV

 _A hot and burning day in Miami. Nearly eighty degrees out there. We had gone to the beach, I remember. Spent the day eating ice-cream and venturing far out into the ocean. Until both of us could no longer see the shore._

 _"Austin?" I panted. "Where are we?"_

 _He paused for a moment then smiled._

 _"We'll turn back now if you're scared."_

 _"But which direction?" I asked._

 _He laughed._

 _"I have no clue," he chuckled, his brows furrowed in thought._

 _"Austin!" I exclaimed, terrified. There we were, in the middle of the Atlantic ocean, and he was laughing? "Seriously, I can't see anything. We're lost."_

 _"I know," he said, wrapping his arms around me as I shuddered. "We'll be fine."_

 _"Seriously," I rolled my eyes at his display of affection but still hung on to him, afraid to let go. "What are we gonna do?"_

 _"I heard there's sharks in the Atlantic ocean," he joked, taking advantage of my fear. I stared at him with horror in my eyes._

 _"There are sharks in the Atlantic ocean!" I screamed. At this point I was shaking all over. The sun had started to go down and I was afraid for what might come next. He seemed to notice this, and pulled me closer._

 _"Do you seriously think I'm gonna let anything happen to you?" he questioned me._

 _"This is no time for romantic gestures!" I exclaimed. "We're lost in the freaking ocean."_

 _"Okay fine then," he laughed. "Let's swim around for a little while."_

 _"No," I said adamantly, locking my hands around his neck. "What if we go further out by accident? What if we lose each other?"_

 _"I'm thinking we're gonna drown if we don't get found soon," he said, and I froze._

 _"Drown?" I stuttered. "Oh no."_

 _At this point both of us were freezing cold and scared. Even Austin. And that made me even more scared, because he was always so chilled out about everything. But just then, he wasn't speaking, and I knew we were in a bad situation. We remained like this for two more hours, until I was pretty sure we would be in pitch darkness within another half an hour or so._

 _"I think we're going to die," I said quietly. And in that moment, it really did seem like we were going to, pressed up against each other in the freezing cold darkness._

 _"Don't be like that," he said. "I'm sure we'll make it till morning and then we can try find our way back."_

 _"Morning when the tide comes in?" I asked softly. He frowned. "We are gonna die, you know."_

 _"That's unlucky," he murmured. "I didn't get to do most of the things I would have wanted to in my life."_

 _"Like?"_

 _"Go on a worldwide tour, buy a massive house, marry the perfect girl, have children-"_

 _"Do some modelling, write a song for Lana Del Rey, watch Alyssa grow up..." I trailed off. "Damn, we're gonna die, aren't we?" I looked up at the navy blue sky, where stars were beginning to appear._

 _"Marry me," Austin said out of nowhere. His eyes bore into mine and twinkled in the faint moonlight. "If all else fails, I'll still die knowing I did one thing right." He kissed me. "Will you?"_

 _"Yes," I laughed._

"Yes," I murmured, letting my mind drift to that day we nearly died. We were so love-struck that we didn't even care. Now look at us, I thought. We did get what we wanted in the end. Apart from a few, of course. He did go on his worldwide tour, we did buy a massive house, I did do some modelling, I did watch Alyssa grow from a little baby into a little girl. AND he was about to marry the perfect girl. He was happy. But I wasn't.

I tiptoed down the stairs into the kitchen to get some breakfast, and quickly backed away from the door when I realised Austin's mom was in the kitchen with him. No trouble, Ally. Just wait here for her to leave.

"I think you're finally making the right choice, sweetheart," she was saying to him. "For yourself and for your career."

"I don't want you to say that just because Cassidy's the only girl I've been with that you actually like, mom," he replied.

"I'm telling you the truth! There was never any trouble in your relationship until Ally became part of the picture. That girl never was good for you, but I'm glad you're finally realizing it," she responded. I flinched.

"Maybe the reason Ally isn't good for me is because of you guys?" Austin questioned her, and she had no answer. "Because up until you came along and had an affair with her dad, we were pretty good together too. And last time I checked, you loved her as well."

"Things change, Austin-"

"Yeah you're right, mom," he said quickly. "Besides, she didn't seem to mind one bit when I told her I was going to propose to Cassidy. She's over it. And I am too."

"Well it's all well and good you being over it, but how do you know she is? What I'm trying to say," she said, turning to face him, "is that as long as she is in this house, things will be different. You two have been through too much at too young an age to completely lose feelings for each other. As your mom, I can see that you still like her, and you're trying to get her to tell you the same thing. But when you're married, you can't let something like that come between you and the girl of your dreams. I have no clue what Ally has done to you, but she can't remain in this-"

"Good morning Austin," I said cheerily. "Mimi." Her face turned pale.

"Ally," she acknowledged. Then her face lit up. "Aren't you just so excited for the wedding?"

I froze. She really knew how to piss me off.

"Well, of course! Trish and I have already started talking about colour schemes. It's going to be spectacular," I smiled. She had left half way through my sentence. How rude.

"Sorry about her," Austin said apologetically.

"It's fine," I said. "I'm used to it. But I am pretty sure you said she'd turned nice? You'd think she'd be nice to me too now that you're going to _propose_ to Cassidy."

"She's really annoying me," he replied. "But it's our house. This house belongs to all of us, and you're not leaving again."

"I'm not," I smiled. "For real this time. I feel like by trying to please all of our parents I lost touch with some of the most important people in my life. And now I'm home, so much has changed. Like you, getting married." I punched him playfully.

"When I said she'd turned nice I meant she'd turned nicer, but that was mainly because your mom and dad weren't here anymore, and you weren't here. It was the house she'd always dreamed of. Trust me, if Trish or Dez had crossed her, she would have been wanting them out too."

"What do you mean, the house she'd always dreamed of?"

"Her, my dad, me, my girlfriend and Alyssa. That's all she wants out of this. Crazy, right? Because she's not getting half of that," he said, shaking his head. "I have to be nice to her though. She is my mom."

"So I guess we are still at square one," I commented, pouring myself a glass of juice. "The only way to please her is for me to leave."

"You're not leaving."

"Please," I laughed. "It's getting to be kind of a joke. I'm staying here."

"Good," he said. "But I still need my parents out. Both to maintain peace and for a bit more privacy."

"Well, the only way that's possible is for you to marry another owner of the house or...for them to die."

"Yeah, well I've been doing some thinking..." he trailed off, realizing he shouldn't have started the sentence.

I laughed.

"You're not gonna murder our parents, are you?" I joked.

"No," he said, running his hand through his hair.

"I just thought, well, maybe...if Cassidy became an owner of this house, maybe it could still work."

"There can only be four owners of this house, and they can only be us, because we paid for it," I reminded him, not knowing where this was going.

"Yeah but if one of us signed over the rights to someone else, they could take our place," he said, and I froze, nearly dropping my glass. I gave him a disappointed look.

"You want me to pass my rights to this house over to Cassidy," I said, putting the glass down on the breakfast bar.

"Only so that we can ask our parents to leave this house for good," he reminded me, and I narrowed my eyes. "You'd still be living here, and we'd both be happy. It would be us four friends and Cassidy. That would work, right?"

"I'm not signing my name off this house when I paid hundreds of thousands of dollars towards it. Not only that, but it's my home," I said.

"Okay," he said. "I'm just putting it out there."

"I'll think about it," I sighed. "It's not a terrible idea, but would you give up this house if I was getting married to someone?"

"Not in a million years," he replied.

"Exactly." I went up to Trish's room where she was snoozing away, and crept in beside her.

"Ally," she muttered, then swore. Classic Trish.

"Do you think I should sign the house over to Cassidy?" I asked patiently. She sat up immediately, rubbing her eyes.

"What?" she shouted. "No! Why's that even a question? Oh."

"Yeah," I said. "It makes sense. We would all be happy."

"He's right I guess," she said, yawning. "It makes a lot of sense. Plus, it's not like the house isn't yours anymore."

"True," I said. "Should I do it?"

"Yeah," she said. "It's about time this ended once and for all."

Later that day, his mom decided to pick a fight with me once again.

"How's your mother doing?" she asked sweetly. I ignored her and carried on reading my magazine. "Oh, Ally. I can literally see the misery on your face ever since you found out Austin's getting married. It's priceless."

I ignored her again.

"I can't wait till they're married. They make such a beautiful couple, don't they? Of course, you'll be here to see how beautiful they are together every day of the rest of your life, since you're going to be living here with them-"

"I can't say the same for you, Mimi," I said. "Considering that as soon as the two of them are registered as a married couple, you'll be out of this house."

"What? No," she laughed heartily, although I could tell she wasn't sure of what to say. "You didn't give your rights to this house over to Cassidy."

"Anything to rid my beautiful home of the likes of you," I replied coolly.

"You're a clever girl," Mimi said. "I'll give you that. But as much as you think you're clever, you're also kind of stupid."

"Mom," Austin called. "I hope you're not saying anything you shouldn't be."

"No, dear," she called back, smiling. "I was just getting ready to pack my belongings. I guess we're going back to the old apartment."

"You agreed?" he called to me, running in to the living room, grinning. I gave him a small smile back.

"This was your idea, son?" she asked, not able to believe it.

"Yes, mother. It had to be this way," he said. "Sorry."

* * *

"So," I said to him. "I guess this is no longer my house too then."

"This is always going to be your home. No one will take that away from you, Ally," he said. "This is going to work."

"And Alyssa?"

"We sorted that out, too. She's staying with us."

I felt a weird sense of excitement within me. It was all working out. With the house and everything. And Alyssa. It was only then, however, that I fully realized what a mess I had made of my life. At this point, I was so desperate to regain my old life back, that not only had I lost Austin for good, but I had given up my rights to my beautiful home too. Things couldn't get worse than that, right? And it wasn't even as if life was going to be like what it was before. It was going to be so different with a married couple living in it, and Mimi was right. Every single day I was going to wake up and see them in their newly wedded state and hate myself day in and day out for letting it happen.

Why did I let it happen, for crying out loud?

"I'm going to propose to her tonight," he said finally, and only then did I feel myself slowly lose it.

"T-tonight?" I stuttered. He reached in his pocket and took out a small box.

"Isn't it beautiful?" he smiled, opening it and showing me.

"Yeah," I whispered. "She's the luckiest girl in the world."

He looked at me, and I knew we were having a moment.

"I never want things to change between us when this happens," he said. "You're still my best friend."

I smiled sadly to myself.

"Do you remember that time years ago when we swam so far out in the sea that we got lost and I absolutely lost it with you because you were so calm about it?" I asked him.

He laughed. "How could I forget?"

"I was remembering that this morning," I explained. "We thought we were gonna die, and you said you didn't get to do the things you wanted to do in your life. Go on a world tour, buy a massive house, marry the perfect girl..."

"I remember," he said.

"You made it," I said to him, smiling. "You got everything you ever wanted. And I'm so happy for you."

I hugged him.

* * *

 _Later on in the evening._

"Austin!" I shouted.

"What? Calm down, I should be the one stressing out here," he answered, annoyed at my running around the house frantically.

"Well, excuse us!" Trish retorted. "You could have at least told us exactly when you were planning your proposal."

"Fine," he snapped. "She'll be home in two hours, just in time for dinner. I'm doing it after dinner."

Trish and I looked at each other in horror.

"TWO HOURS?" we screamed simultaneously.

"We have to bake the cake, ice the cake, make dinner, make dessert, tidy the freaking house," I said.

"Well, what are you waiting for standing around there? Do you want to remember this house as being a tip when you asked Cassidy to marry you? Hoover the house now," Trish ordered. He hurried away and I laughed. "And where's Dez?"

"Got the ingredients!" he called from the kitchen, and I sighed in relief. We didn't need Trish going off on one on Dez today.

"Okay," I said. "Let's bake a cake!"

"Hey," came a little girl's voice from beside me, and I jumped. "Why's everyone screaming, Ally?" It was Alyssa.

"Well," I said, bending down. "It's a very special night tonight."

"Why?"

"It's a surprise! You'll love it when you find out though," I promised. "Now go before you get covered in flour. Trish and I have some big girl work to do. Trish! For crying out loud, I said the 30cm tin, not the 26cm one!"

The little girl scuttled away, confused.

We'd put the cake in the oven within half an hour, before quickly making the icing and starting on dinner, while I quickly made some sort of dessert.

"Done!" Trish cried triumphantly.

"Let's get changed now," I said, tiredly. "SET THE TABLE AUSTIN!" I shouted, "It better be done before we get back downstairs."

"OKAY MOM!" he called back sarcastically.

Soon enough, Cassidy had come through the door, and I felt sick, like Trish had expected.

"You have to act normal for Austin," she had told me while we were getting ready. "I know this is hard for you, and you're going to feel like throwing up all through the night, but we have to co-operate now. There's a new member of our family now."

"Gosh guys," she commented, looking around. "You call a cleaner in or something?"

"You'd be surprised as to what the boys can do if they put their mind to it," I said smiling. "How did the shoot go?"

"It went great, thanks," she said brightly. "Wait...the boys did this? What's the occasion?" She laughed.

Trish and I laughed with her. "We just...got a little annoyed at them," I said.

"You guys made cake? Can I see it?" she asked.

"NO!" we both screamed, before she could go over and lift the lid over the huge cake.

"O-kay," she said, laughing. "I'm really hungry. Let's start eating."

The next part of the night went by really smoothly, and I was happy about that. Everyone was laughing and joking, even through dessert.

"You guys gonna tell me why you've gone all out tonight?" she asked finally, after round 1 of dessert was finished.

"I want to know too," Alyssa said.

That's when Austin got down on one knee, and I very nearly coughed up the very little amount of food I had consumed that day. I pretty much blanked out as soon as he got on one knee, until that "will" word. I'd have to ask Trish what he said to her before that.

"Will you marry me, Cassidy?" he asked nervously.

"Yes!"

We all cheered, and Trish and I unveiled the huge cake, smiling. It was only Alyssa who sat there unsmiling, and a little confused, before Austin held out his arms to her and she crawled into his lap and smiled too.

At the end of the small occasion, I ran up to my room and got in bed, unable to believe that this was really happening.

* * *

Austin's POV

When it was all over, and Cassidy had gone to take a shower, I lay in bed, still not over the fact that this was happening. And with a girl that wasn't Ally.

There was a faint knock at the door, and it came slightly open.

"Austin?" came Alyssa's voice.

"Yes, princess? Shouldn't you be in bed now?"

"Why did you marry Cassidy?" she asked me.

"Because I love her?" I replied, raising one eyebrow.

"But you love Ally more," she said. "Now you can't be with Ally anymore. What if Ally goes back to Paris again?"

"She's not going anywhere, I promise."

"You can't marry her!" she insisted.

"Why not?"

"Because you aren't perfect for each other like you and Ally are," she pouted. "You're going to wish you didn't do this in a few years time. But then it will be too late."

I looked at her, confused. This was my seven year old sister here.

I lay in bed longer, and sighed to myself, wondering if I was ever going to do anything right.

* * *

 **A/N: REVIEW PLEASE. Next chapter coming soon.**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: I've been forgetting to add disclaimers! WOW.**

 **DISCLAIMER: NONE OF THESE CHARACTERS BELONG TO ME. I'm just a humble fan.**

* * *

Ally's POV

The next few months went by as normal, and I could tell that things were, well, normal. But I couldn't help but wonder what normal even was anymore. Was it even a thing? I had to go about my days pretending to be so excited for the big wedding, and so did Trish, but unlike Trish, who was actually kind of excited to be planning an event like a wedding, I didn't want this so-called wedding to go ahead.

"I love this," I forced myself to say when I realized I was being too quiet during the planning session. "My two sisters."

"Awwwww," Cassidy replied sweetly, and it annoyed me how nice she was being. It was like everything was going to be like this from now on. "This is going to be too much fun."

It was only when we started going dress shopping that it really hit me. I kept wondering what it would be like if it was me marrying him instead, how it would have been much more personal had it been just Trish and I shopping. I could tell she thought the same thing too.

"I think it's so adorable how much Alyssa likes you," I said after a while. "It's good that she wasn't all alone while I was gone."

"She's a lovely little girl," she responded. "It's a shame the kind of things she's had to see. Hopefully that's all gonna change. Imagine how cute she'd look in this dress!" She pointed to the most intricate lace white bridesmaid dress I had ever seen, and I smiled.

"I'm so excited for this wedding!" Trish squealed.

"Same," Cassidy replied with equal excitement. "Like, is any of this even real?!"

The two of them walked off together, and I couldn't help but consider the fact that these two had lived together for four years now - they were bound to be close friends. Trish and Cassidy. I sighed to myself. Stop with all the jealousy; Trish would never leave your side. I looked over at them again, and wondered if there was anything else left for me to lose.

I picked up my phone and scrolled through my feed.

 **Cassidy Schafer, Ally Dawson and Trish Delarosa Spotted Wedding Shopping**

 **Ally Dawson Gutted Over Cassidy Schafer's Engagement To Former Beau**

 **Austin and Ally's Love Story is Coming to A Close: But What Exactly Does This Mean for Ally?**

I sighed and shut my phone, following Cassidy and Trish. I just didn't know what I was going to do anymore. On the one hand, I couldn't let this happen. I couldn't let this happen because I knew my heart was telling me I couldn't handle it if it did go forward. I loved him too much, and I would regret not telling him for the rest of my life. But on the other hand, how could I possibly have the nerve to tell him I couldn't possibly let this happen when I was the stupid one that let the most amazing guy (who actually loved me back) slip right out of my hands.

"Okay," Trish said. "That's enough shopping for one day. I'm so tired. Ally, you coming?"

"Sure," I said slowly.

Back home, I retreated into my bedroom like I always did, and pulled out my songbook as a means of comfort. To my surprise, a little girl popped out from behind my door.

"Hi Ally," Alyssa said. "You look upset."

"I am a little upset," I replied.

"You wanna talk about it?"

I laughed. "Big girl problems. Nothing to bother a princess with."

"I am a big girl!" she protested. "It's probably about how you can't let my brother marry Cassidy."

"How'd you know?" I asked, raising one eyebrow.

"Because," she said, walking lightly over to me. "That makes two of us."

"What do you mean? I thought you liked her?"

"I hate her," the little girl cried. "She's a mean girl!"

"What did she do to you?" I asked, shocked at her change in attitude.

"I never liked her from the start," Alyssa responded. "And she knew that if I told Austin what she was like, he wouldn't be with her. So she told me I had to pretend to like her or she would make sure you never came home."

I was taken aback. She really did seem to have been making an effort with all of us, and it shocked me to realize that all this time, she was still the same person.

"We have to tell Austin," I replied. "Why did you not tell your brother?"

"Because she said she'd make sure you went back to Paris where you belonged," the little girl whispered. "I don't want you to leave."

"I'm not going anywhere!" I exclaimed, angry that everyone still thought I was going to go back to Paris. "I'm staying right here."

"Then we have to do something before they get married!" Alyssa cried. "Do you promise you won't leave?"

"I promise I'm not leaving," I said. "Now go and tell your brother what's up!"

I followed her downstairs to where everyone was sitting, and sat on the spare seat since Cassidy had taken my spot next to Trish. How predictable. Take my man, take my house, take my best friend, even take my spot on the couch!

"Come and sit here, princess," Cassidy called Alyssa to come and sit on her lap.

"No," she replied stubbornly, crossing her arms. I was scared for what was to come.

"What's wrong?" her brother asked her, concerned, since she very rarely threw a strop.

"What's wrong is that you can't get married to Cassidy!" she exclaimed, and I very nearly threw up. The entire room went quiet. Trish looked at me across the room and I looked down.

"What?" Austin asked. "Why?"

"Because she's not very nice," she responded. "She hates Ally!"

"Hey," Cassidy started calmly, bending down to speak to her. "I know it's hard for you to not get all the attention from your brother, but you have to know he still loves you a lot. We're all going to be so happy together, I promise."

" _You'll_ be happy until I stop pretending I like you like you told me to!" Alyssa exclaimed. "And then you'll make Ally go back to Paris. But she's not leaving again."

"Austin," Cassidy tried helplessly, and I couldn't help but narrow my eyes at her silly attempt to look helpless, "I don't know what she's talking about."

He sighed.

"Neither do I," he said tiredly. "It's time you grew up a little, Alyssa. It's not always going to be just you and me - I'm disappointed that you'd make something up just to get my attention."

"But-"

"I don't want to hear it. Ally, please take her upstairs or somewhere," he told me, and I gave him a long look.

I sighed.

"Come on, Alyssa," I said, taking her hand and leading her to my bedroom.

I could tell that Cassidy was loving it.

* * *

Austin's POV

What the hell was that? One second my little sister was loving my fiancee and now she was hating her? It had to be some kind of attention seeking ploy, I figured. But she was old enough to know by seeing all the things I've done for her that I could never stop giving her attention. She was my little sister, for crying out loud. I kind of felt bad for getting annoyed at her, but she did have to realise that I loved Cassidy, and that wasn't going to change.

"I feel terrible," I told Ally once she was asleep and it was just me and her downstairs.

"You should," she said, annoyed. "Maybe she had a point to make?"

"You legitimately think that Cassidy still hates you?" I raised one eyebrow.

She didn't reply.

"You believe Alyssa, don't you?" I laughed. "She only did that for attention, Ally."

"It didn't seem false when she told me," she responded. I looked at her.

"You're jealous," I pointed out.

"Am not," she objected. "There's a difference between looking out for someone I care about and being jealous of said person I care about's fiancee."

"Are too," I said. "Admit it."

"I will admit that while I never wanted to be in Cassidy's place, I can't help but wonder..." she trailed off.

"What could have been?" I suggested.

She sighed.

"Okay, Austin," she exclaimed. "I get your point. You were right about all those years I spent away from this place. But don't get confused thinking that I'm jealous of Cassidy. I gave up my house for her."

I looked at her a little longer, and realized just how messed up her life had gotten.

"I was all about you, Ally," I said after a long while. "I couldn't imagine my life with anyone but you. It bugs me too how much things have changed."

"Alyssa was telling the truth," she replied.

"Are you being serious?" I asked. "She made that up. For all I know, you could have told her to make that up seeing how close you two are-"

"You think I freaking told her to do that? Well, that just goes to show how well you know me," she retorted.

"Just admit it. You don't want this wedding to happen because you still have feelings for me, and you know you messed up real bad. I did wait for you, Ally. Three, nearly four long years. But things changed in those four years, and as much as you think no one could have what we had, which is true, me and Cassidy did get close during that time. This isn't some rash decision I've made just to get over you, if that's what you think. It isn't always about you, for crying out loud. I've moved on, and it's about time you did too," I burst out. I instantly regretted it as she flinched.

"This never happened," she said shakily after a long time, before getting up and leaving.

* * *

Ally's POV

That was that then. I realized I had to do something about my inability to live with Cassidy in the house. I had to get over this stupid thing I had for Austin. He had clearly moved on, and I was an idiot for forcing him to do so.

There was a month until the wedding, and that had to be enough time for me to sort out my feelings for him. We never did speak about our argument, and nobody heard, but it only made things ten times more awkward between us since I had basically confessed my love for him in a weak and feeble attempt to make him break up with Cassidy.

And Cassidy wasn't making it easy for me to be nice to her either. She knew I knew about her making Alyssa pretend to like her.

"Hey, Ally!" she called. She held up a suit. "So, I have, prussian blue."

She held up another suit to Austin.

"Midnight blue."

She held up another.

"Navy blue."

"Federal blue."

"Oxford blue."

"Which one looks best?" she asked me sweetly.

"Um," I started awkwardly. "Well..."

"Oh, come on, Ally!" she said disappointedly. "You know fashion better than any of us!"

I glared at her for a second then tilted my head to examine the suits.

"It's between midnight blue and oxford blue," I said quietly. "Try them both on, Austin."

"Definitely midnight blue," I resolved. "Brings out your eyes." I stared up into them for a second and then backed away.

"Thanks Ally!" she called. I ignored her, rolling my eyes.

Then came the colour scheme thing for the actual wedding, which annoyed me no ends.

"My dress is here!" Trish squealed, excited at the three beige Elie Saab boxes at the doorstep. One for me, one for Trish, and one for Carrie, the three main bridesmaids.

The dresses were absolutely beautiful, but I noticed a slight colour difference between mine and the other girls'.

"Why's my dress lighter than both of yours?" I asked them.

"My dress is seashell coloured," Carrie said.

"Same," agreed Trish. I went pale.

"Seashell?" I exclaimed. "I was told ivory?"

"I'm pretty sure we agreed on seashell in the group chat, Ally," Cassidy said, walking over.

"What group chat?" I asked, confused.

"You're in it, Ally," Trish said, showing me.

"That's my old number!" I cried, annoyed that I had just paid thousands of dollars for a custom made dress that I couldn't return.

My old number. How predictable.

"I'm so sorry Ally, I must have added your old contact by accident!" Cassidy said apologetically, and I nearly lost it.

"Oh, don't worry," I replied sweetly. "I'll just order another one in seashell."

"Swear there's no difference," Dez commented. "That one's just a little off white."

"It's very important, Dez!" Carrie exclaimed. "Everything has to be perfect."

"It will be perfect," Cassidy said smiling, and turned to kiss Austin.

She really was testing my temper today, and she did, all through the lead up to the wedding.


	13. Chapter 13

Ally's POV

The wedding day came sooner than I anticipated, and I rolled out of bed thinking it was any ordinary day, until...

"ALLY!" Trish's voice was screaming. I jumped. "HAIR AND MAKE UP WILL BE HERE IN 10 MINUTES. GET UP AND HAVE A FREAKING BATH!"

"Damn," I swore, and ran out of the room to where she was standing, running about frantically. Austin was laughing.

"Trish, calm down," he was saying.

I ran back into my room and rummaged through my skincare drawer trying to find my shower products.

"That woman is losing it," Austin said, following me into my room.

"I'M GONNA LOSE IT," I shouted. "Where the hell is my cleanser?"

He held me by the shoulder.

"Calm. Down," he said. "You'd think you're the one getting married, not me."

"Go away before Trish kills us both," I replied, running into my en-suite bathroom.

"SHIT!" I screamed.

"What now?" Austin exclaimed, terrified.

"WAKE UP ALYSSA RIGHT NOW. RIGHT. NOW!" I screeched, realizing Alyssa was still fast asleep in her room. When I did whisk her into the bathroom and get her prepped for hair and makeup, I had us both ready within ten minutes, just in time for her to start her little makeover.

"Oh, Ally, you are awake!" sighed Cassidy, who was also stressed out. "I'm so scared for this."

"Don't worry," I reassured her. "Everything's going according to plan. You just relax, and we'll call you when you have to get ready or whatever."

"Hello, sweetheart," one of the makeup artists said to Alyssa. "What are we doing for you today?"

"Keep it simple," I said. "She's only seven. We were thinking loose curls with some of those diamante hair twist things. And for makeup, nothing apart from a little blusher. And this lipstick." I handed over a neutral pink lipstick.

"And for you, Ally?" I heard a familiar voice from behind me. Celine!

"Celine?" I cried, and hugged my favourite hair and makeup girl. "You came?"

"Trish called me specially for this. How could I miss an event like this?" she exclaimed.

"Ahhh, I'm so happy you're here, Celine."

"What are we doing for you today then?" she asked, smiling.

"For the wedding, I think I'm gonna keep it simple, like Alyssa. Loose curls with a few of those diamante hair twists, and neutral make up. Natural enough to look like my skin but better, but done well enough to photograph flawlessly. If you get me," I laughed. "It's been a while since I've attended a high profile event."

"I hope I'll get the chance to glam you up properly for the reception though. What colour are you wearing?" Celine asked.

"Gold," I replied. "And yeah definitely!"

"Ally," Trish called, coming over. "I'm going over there to see how preparations are going, okay? Make sure everyone's ready within an hour, especially the boys. I'll be back then and we can get changed into our outfits, okay? And if the wedding favour box people call, just tell them I'm already there-"

"Trish," I said calmly. "Calm down. Everything is going to go great. It's gonna be perfect. We've planned this day out for too long for it to mess up."

"How are you feeling about it, Ally?" she asked, stopping for a moment, realizing she hadn't yet asked me how I was coping with the inevitable loss of the love of my life once and for all.

"I feel...relieved," I sighed. "I'll never be over this, but I'm happy for them. They do love each other."

I laughed. "Now go, Trish, before you realize you just wasted thirty precious seconds!"

"THIRTY ENTIRE SECONDS?" she pretended to laugh. "Haha, go get pretty. Be back in an hour."

"Bye!" I called.

Within half an hour, hair and make up was done for all of us, and the clock was ticking closer and closer to the start of the event.

"We all look so great," Carrie said, admiring us all in our bridesmaid dresses in front of a huge mirror. She bent down next to Alyssa. "But you look the best by far, Alyssa."

"Thanks, Carrie! But Ally said I can't wear big heels like the rest of you," she pouted.

"Because you won't be able to walk!" I exclaimed. Carrie went through her bag and pulled out the cutest pair of shoes with a small heel.

"I bought these a month ago but Cassidy was going on about how we all needed to have the same shoes. Wear them," she told Alyssa. "They'll look great!"

"Hey, will you two look after Alyssa for ten minutes? I have to do something," I told Trish and Carrie.

"Sure," Trish said, "But don't be too long. We're leaving in forty five."

I walked over downstairs to where all the boys were.

"Dez, you seen Austin?" I asked.

"Yeah, he's-"

"Hello beautiful," came another voice, and I grimaced. I completely forgot I'd have to face Chace today.

I sighed.

"Chace," I acknowledged. "Go on, Dez?"

"Yeah he's in his bedroom."

I went up there as quickly as I could and knocked on the door.

"I'm coming, Trish! This stupid bow tie isn't working-"

"It's just me," I laughed, walking in to see him fiddling with his bow tie. "Come here, let me do it."

There was little distance between us as I fiddled around with his tie.

"What the hell did you do to this thing?" I asked, frustrated. "Here we go. Let me add a pin to keep it in place."

"You look pretty," he commented.

"Thanks," I smiled. "So do you."

Then I paused, and sat on his bed.

"How are you feeling?" I asked curiously.

"Nervous, scared, confused, annoyed...why did it have to be such a big wedding?" he asked, flustered.

"That's Cassidy for you," I laughed uneasily. "Don't worry, everything's gonna go great."

We sat like this for a minute.

"I can't believe you're getting married," I said, looking at the floor. "It only just sunk in."

"Same," he said. "How's Alyssa?"

"She's fine. Loving the wedding atmosphere. You should really go downstairs now," I said, and we both stood up.

"I guess this is our last conversation as two unmarried people who have the most dysfunctional friendship ever," he laughed, and gulped. I fixed his hair for him.

"I wouldn't say dysfunctional," I muttered, "I'd say one of a kind."

I hugged him.

"I love you, Ally," he said during the hug.

"I love you too, Austin," I replied.

"Things get better starting...now," he said, smiling, opening the door and gesturing for me to follow him. We both went downstairs together.

The next twenty or so minutes were just of us as a family taking pictures, with a few photographers there to snap pics for publicity. Then, Trish, Carrie, Alyssa and I left for the venue.

I must say, it looked incredible. Everything was beautiful, and the aisle was scattered with rose petals. Trish really had gone all out.

"Wow," I breathed.

"Wait till yours," Trish laughed, nudging me, and I smiled.

And so it happened, like something out of a movie. Austin and his best man Dez on one side, then me, Trish, Carrie and Alyssa on the other. I could see why we got so much attention from the media. We really were the perfect family. Consisting of influential people like singers, models, business people. Everything about us was something someone on the outside would probably desire, however they knew nothing of what happened on the inside.

"Austin, will you take Cassidy to be your wife? Do you commit yourself to her happiness and self fulfillment as a person? Do you promise to love, honor and trust her in sickness and in health, in adversity and prosperity, and to be true and loyal to her so long as you both shall live?"

My stomach lurched, but I kept smiling.

"I do," he said, smiling.

The same went for her.

"I do," she said.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride."

They kissed.

Everyone cheered.

She threw her bouquet in the air and I caught it, surprised. She winked at me in a friendly way and I laughed uneasily.

Alyssa was nowhere to be seen.

"Alyssa?" I called, worried.

"I'm here, Ally! With Alex," she responded. She was with Cassidy's youngest sibling, who she went to school with, and had become really close friends with over the years.

"Hello, Alex," I smiled. They really did remind me of a young Austin and I.

"Hi, Ally."

"You guys coming home for cake before the reception? We need to get you ready, Alyssa. And you, Alex." They both got up and followed me to the car and we drove back home to get ready for the next event.

The reception was definitely much more luxurious than the wedding, what with the midnight blue and gold theme. I got Celine to do us all pretty gold eyes and an overall pretty sultry look. And the dresses? Don't even get me started. I felt like an Egyptian goddess in my gold dress, and I'm pretty sure everyone else did too.

"You ready for our little speech, Ally?" Trish asked me.

"I'll wing it," I resolved, and she glared at me.

"You didn't learn it?"

"No! I wouldn't want it to come out forced," I exclaimed.

"You better not mess up," she said.

"I won't."

Soon enough it was time for us all to toast to the newly married couple, and I found no shortage of words, even though I said I was going to wing it. Trish looked at me nervously.

"I've known Austin for a very long time now, and throughout the years he's come to mean a lot to me, which is weird, since I pretty much didn't know what I was getting myself into the day he came and stole my song and got famous off it. In fact, I thought you were one of the most annoying people I'd ever met. But as our time together went on, and we started working as partners, I realized that I had created one of the most valuable friendships ever. We've been there for each other through some of the hardest times, and shared tears and lots of laughter, and I'm so proud of the person you've become. I know I wouldn't be the same person I am today without you. So I wish you both a lifetime of happiness, a life of love and continued imagination. Let's toast to my best friend and his beautiful wife," I smiled.

Then it was time for the couple's dance, which I watched, with my fake happy smile, until everyone else started joining in and I had no one to dance with. That was until Chase came up to me. I looked up at him.

"Just one dance. Please?" he asked hopefully. I rolled my eyes and started dancing.

"Well you certainly look dashing tonight," I raised my eyebrows. I wasn't gonna lie to you. Chase was hot. There was something about him that made me slightly scared. I think it was the pointed and pronounced features of his face, and the way he smiled. That smile could melt anybody's heart. He was the bad boy who wasn't all that bad but scared you anyway.

"Not as good as you," he said, smiling that crooked smile. "How was Paris?"

"Good."

"No place on this planet is better than Miami," he commented.

"Well that's not true, Chase," I responded. I looked up at him. "How have you been since, well..."

"I've regretted that day every single day since. I don't know what came over me. I really do like you, Ally, and I can't apologise enough for what happened," he said, and I looked up at him.

"Do you mean it?" I asked quickly.

"Yes, I swear it," he said apologetically. "I'll wait for you. As long as it takes."

Seriously? Maybe this day wasn't as bad as I thought it was gonna be. I felt a tap on my shoulder.

"May I have a dance?" Austin asked, giving Chase a look.

"Sure," I sighed, and he pulled me close to him. "Austin! There are photographers here."

"That was a cute speech you made there," he said. "Was I really that annoying?"

"Still are," I teased.

"I think I've made a great impact on your life," he pondered. "I mean, up until I met you, you liked _cloud watching._ Cloud watching."

I laughed.

"Aw, look at those two," I said, looking over at Alyssa and Alex.

"They remind me of us," he commented, smiling. "Hope they don't end up as messed up."

"Same. Having a guy best friend is the best thing ever," I said, "until you fall for him."

We stared at each other sadly. From the corner of my eye I could see Alyssa running off somewhere alone.

"Where's she going?" I asked, and quickly followed her, Austin behind me. The last thing any of us needed was something happening to Alyssa, her getting lost or something.

"Alyssa!" he called, and she turned around, sitting on a ledge on the rooftop. "Get down from there. What are you doing out here?"

"Alex kissed me," she said quietly.

"Oh," Austin said, stopping in his tracks.

"What's so bad about that?" I asked. "We were watching you two together tonight, and you're good together."

"Look, if you reject him now, he's gonna make it his life's mission to go out there and meet the most perfect, beautiful girl in the world just to try and get over you," he said, all the while looking at me. "And he'll end up marrying this other woman and spending the rest of his life with her. And he'll tell himself that she's perfect...but she won't be you, you know?" ( **A/N: That was from Love, Rosie. One of my favourite lines ever! Thought it fit in well, but that quote doesn't belong to me** )

The wind blew softly around us.

"Austin, I-"

"There you are!" Cassidy shouted from across the roof. "What's going on?"

"We had a little situation," I said, standing up and taking Alyssa's hand. "With Alyssa. But it's over now. I'll just...leave you two."

So I left, and went straight home with Alyssa. And I cried my heart out.

* * *

 **A/N: I've only written up to the end of Chapter 14 and I have exams next week, really important ones, therefore I won't be able to update for the next week and a bit! Chapter 14 should be finished soon and I'll upload it as soon as possible but you have to understand that I literally have no time to write right now.**

 **Drop a review!**

 **And thanks for reading x**


	14. Chapter 14

Ally's POV

Honeymoon period was over and life was very much merging into what we all thought would be Austin and Cassidy's happy married life. Things were nothing like that. I failed to understand how such a pretty, confident girl like Cassidy was so...insecure about everything! Austin and I would be talking to each other about something stupid like something silly Dez did like six years ago, or how Trish once made the worst pie in the entire world, and she'd be sitting there with blatant jealousy all over her face. And I would try to reduce how much I spoke to Austin to a minimum just to make her happy.

I had even started dating Chase again, and I can't lie, I was pretty happy with him. I finally felt like the pieces in the puzzle were falling into place, and everyone was finally happy. Even Trish was dating someone, as much as she wanted to deny it. I was pretty sure Dez and Carrie were going to get married next as well. Alyssa was also doing great, which I was happy about, and her and her best friend Alex were stronger than ever, although I hadn't heard of him trying to kiss her again, which was even more great because Alyssa was way too young for something like that.

"Hi, beautiful," Chase said when he came to pick me up for dinner today, giving me that bad boy look that I so loved seeing.

"Hi," I returned. "Where are we going for dinner today?"

"I don't know," he flashed me a cute smile. "We'll just drive till we find somewhere cool-looking."

"How romantic of you," I teased, and we left.

I didn't know what it was, but I could have sworn that Austin was getting jealous.

* * *

Austin's POV

I wanted a divorce. As soon as possible. There was nothing wrong in the way she acted around me. In fact, I think I could confidently say that she was the most perfect wife ever...to me. But she was just too paranoid. Sure, Ally and I had a past. But she had a boyfriend now too. Sure, I was more than bothered by the fact that she had moved on, but I had moved on too.

I only realized I'd had enough of it all when Cassidy took a step too far.

It had been a scorching hot day, and we were all spending the day by the outdoor pool. Ally had just come back from a date and I was a little annoyed because Cassidy had been in a bad mood all through the day.

"Nice date?" I asked Ally.

"Great, actually." She stripped down to her bikini and joined the rest of us. I couldn't help but stare at how _hot_ she was. I prayed Cassidy didn't notice me.

"Damn, Ally," Trish joked. "Have you been working out?"

"Yeah Ally," I joined in, mocking her, "have you been working out?"

Then she stood up, grinning, walked over to me and pushed me into the pool. Full on. All in the name of banter, I promise you.

She laughed, turning around to high five Trish but not before I had resurfaced and pulled her in by her waist. Again, all in the name of banter. Cassidy sat upright, taking off her sunglasses abruptly.

"Austin, for crying out loud, what are you doing?" she shouted, annoyed.

"What?" I asked innocently. "Come and join us!" Ally gestured for her to come.

"I'll pass, thanks," she snapped, and Ally flinched.

"What's with her?" she mouthed to me, and I shrugged.

She walked over to the edge of the pool and glared at Ally.

"Ally," she started, "I think it's high time you started acting your age, and stopped fooling around with Austin all the time."

"I'm not doing anything?" Ally questioned her, getting a little irritated at her attitude.

"You know exactly what you're doing," she snapped.

"Please, elaborate. And don't talk to me like that in my house," Ally replied, now more annoyed.

"Fair enough," Cassidy smirked. "But I think you need to move out. There's a spare room in my house. I'm sure Chase would _love_ that."

I grimaced. I couldn't possibly let Ally go and live with him. Never.

"You're telling _me_ to move out? What gives you the freaking right to tell me that?"

"Uh, Ally..." Trish trailed off.

I froze. Oh no.

"Last time I checked," Cassidy responded smugly, "I have every right to kick you out of here."

Ally froze, and glared at her.

"Austin I told you!" Alyssa wailed from her small sun chair.

"You're not going anywhere, Ally," I reassured her. "Don't talk to her like that."

"Well she really is, Austin," Cassidy said to me, acting like I was confused. "Goodbye, Ally. Drop your keys on your way out."

"Can she even do that?" Carrie asked Dez, who turned to Trish, who was paler than ever.

Ally, on the other hand, didn't seem to be fazed. She got out of the pool quickly and grabbed a towel.

"Don't think you're getting away with this, Cassidy," she said to her icily.

"Where are you gonna go?" Trish called.

"Somewhere you know you'll find me."

"I'll sort it out, don't worry!" Trish shouted again, but Ally didn't reply.

"What the hell was that for?" I asked Cassidy, storming up to her. "She didn't do anything."

"I don't like Ally," she said simply. "And I wanted her gone."

"Look, Cassidy," Dez said, standing up. "I don't know what kind of special treatment you receive back home but in this house you get treated the same as everyone else. Don't take advantage of the fact that this house is under your name too, because it's also under mine."

"And mine," added Trish.

"And mine," I said. "I don't know what's gotten into you, but it has to stop. I'm not afraid to call this marriage off."

* * *

Ally's POV

She had taken everything away from me. The humiliation when I was told to leave my own house, the house I'd put hundreds of thousands of my own earnings from my own career towards...that humiliation was indescribable. There was no way I was going to live at her house with Chase, even though it sounded nice. There really was only one place left to go.

My old practice room.

Not much had changed in it, but it desperately needed some retouching. I opened some windows and dusted my old piano, remembering all the memories we shared there. That one moment our hands touched whilst writing a song and that fluttering feeling that rose from within me.

"I figured you'd be here," Trish said, hugging me.

"Gosh, Trish," I exhaled. "What the hell has Austin married?"

"Not for long. I don't think this marriage is gonna last any longer the rate at which Cassidy's going," Trish said solemnly.

"She still has rights over the house, though, meaning even if they do call it off, that doesn't change anything," I cried.

"There'll be a way around it, Ally. She isn't the only owner of the house right now. There's three others. There's no way she's gonna get away with this," said Trish. "We'll come over tonight-"

"Actually," I said, "I'd prefer to be alone tonight. I might call Chase over or something."

Trish smiled.

"Okay," she said, "Have fun."

* * *

Austin's POV

"Pull yourself together," I told Cassidy the next day. "What is with you these days?"

"I don't know," she replied, her normal self. "I suppose I just get a bit jealous around Ally."

"What's there to be jealous about?" I questioned her.

"You just...love each other too much," she confessed. "I can't help but feel like I'm always on the outside."

"Last time I checked," I said, "I married you. Not Ally."

"I know," she sighed, her head in her hands. "I don't know what came over me. I've been feeling really out of it lately."

"Fine, whatever," I brushed it off, still annoyed. "Call her and apologise please."

"I can't," she said adamantly. "I don't like her being around us."

"Invite her back here or I'm gonna lose it," I responded.

"No, I can't have her come between us, Austin."

"For God's sake, Cassidy, she is _not_ coming between us! She has a boyfriend. It's her or me. Your choice," I snapped.

"Don't do this," she replied. "I can see how you change when she's around you."

"And I can see how you change when she's around me too," I retorted.

"You can't blame me for wanting her out!" she shouted.

"She's family," I said. "You don't kick family out of their own house."

"You keep using that silly family best friend excuse," she responded. "I'm not an idiot. I'm the one you're married to. I can see past that."

I shook my head, now angry.

"You know what?" I shouted. "I can't live with someone as insecure as you. You create problems out of nowhere and are constantly angry. I think it's time we called this off once and for all. I'm filing a divorce."

She froze and looked at me hard-faced.

"You really can't do that," she said softly.

"Why not?"

"Because I'm pregnant," she said bluntly, her eyes piercing mine. I froze.

"Austin!" cried Trish from outside. "Have you heard the news?"

She sounded annoyed and upset, so I rushed out.

"What is it?" I called.

"Ally's getting married!"

And that's the one moment in my entire life when I could confidently say that everything I wanted was slipping out of my reach.

* * *

 **A/N: Well, that's Chapter 14 cut short, I was going to make it longer but I simply have no time to write. So, I'm gonna upload this chapter and then I can't update for a while because of my exams. I've already wasted enough time writing :(**

 **I hope you all understand!**

 **There's some exciting things coming I promise..**

 **Drop a review please!**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: My exams are over yay! So I'll be updating more regularly now. Thanks for reading and don't forget to drop a review! X**

Ally's POV

I can't say that I made the most thoughtful decision when agreeing to get married to Chase. All I did know is that I was nearly 23 years old and not getting any younger, and that the sooner I settled down with someone (anyone, really) the sooner things about Austin and I would stop getting written. Plus, I had been kicked out of my own house, a house which I contributed nearly four million dollars towards, but no biggie. Right? So when he did ask me, Chase, that is, if I would spend the rest of my life with him, it was hard not to say yes while his smile melted my heart.

The first person I decided to tell was Trish, and ask you can imagine, she was ecstatic. It was kind of like a dream if I'm fully honest with you. I couldn't see myself ten years later still with him, no matter how hard I tried to picture him as the father of my kids. That was it, really. He was just so...laid back and chilled about everything. So was Austin I guess, but he was mature when he had to be. So I guess what I'm getting at, is that I could see myself with Chase while I was young, but I definitely couldn't picture us growing old together.

"You're being silly," Trish said when I explained this to her. "You two do love each other."

"Of course I love him. I guess I'm just a bit nervous," I replied.

"Don't be," she laughed. "I don't understand why. He's obsessed with you."

"I know, but I can't forget what happened before..." I trailed off.

"Ally," she said seriously. "You gave him a second chance and he took it and made use of it. Sure, he was the definition of the word fuckboy before, but he's changed. He looks at you the way every girl wants to be looked at. You can't deny what's right in front of you."

"I guess," I sighed, brightening up a little at my best friend's kind words.

"Plus, you said yes already. There's no time for hesitation now," she smiled, and I started feeling a little uncomfortable again. She sensed it, and put her arm around me.

"I know you've had your fair share of terrible experiences with boys, Ally-"

"They've not all been terrible!" I defended myself. "What about...oh, okay. You're right."

"As I was saying," she laughed, "I know you've not always had the best experiences with boys but I can see how much Chase likes you. And I know its hard for you to get over Austin, and you probably never will, but I think this proposal is something you should see as a turning point in your life, Ally."

I laughed softly.

"Since when did you get all deep? That's Dez's job," I said, and hugged her again. "Thanks for being the best best friend I could ever ask for. And for never stopping caring, even when it seemed like I didn't."

"We're sisters," she replied. "It's our job to look out for each other, no matter whether you're in Paris or on the other side of the world."

"Knock knock," came Dez's voice from behind the practice room door. "It's been a while since I've taken a trip to our old hangout."

"Literally," said Austin, kind of sadly. I felt really sorry for him. "I can feel the memories rushing back."

"What is _she_ doing here?" I asked quite rudely, but frankly, Cassidy deserved it.

"I came to apologise," she replied. "And of course to congratulate you and my brother. It was out of order what I did, and I felt terrible afterwards. I really did. I didn't know what made me do it, but I do now..." She trailed off and I glared at her even more.

"I'm not sure I'm following," I said icily, looking over at Austin who was looking at the ground.

"You know what? I don't think this is the right time to-" he was cut off.

"We're pregnant!" Cassidy interrupted, her face lit up. I swore I nearly threw up.

"WHAT?" Trish exclaimed.

"Congratulations," I choked, before there was an awkward silence. I closed my eyes, cringing. You can probably imagine what it was like.

"Speaking of which," Dez broke in, and I sighed in relief. "Where's Chase?"

"He's on set right now," I said in a monotone. "He'll be back later. Should I order pizza?"

"Pizza would be great," Trish replied.

"I can't stay any longer," Cassidy said. "I have a doctor's appointment. Congratulations again, Ally. I can't wait for you to officially be my sister!"

"And you, darling," I said, showing her out before slamming the door shut, and locking it, my mouth wide open.

"You're getting married?" Austin shouted. "To him?"

"You're having a child?" I retorted. "With _her_?"

"That was not part of the plan," he said, shaking his head. I rolled my eyes.

"What, did the condom break? Did she _forget_ to take the freaking pill?" I shouted, angry as ever. Trish and Dez sat on the sofa, in shock.

"Ally..." Trish tried to make me calm down.

"What, Trish? Forgive me if I don't want a mini version of Austin and that _bitch_ running around my house-"

"You think I want it anymore than you do?" he returned. "I was about to end things."

I sighed, and took a seat.

"Great, Austin," I said quietly. "That's just great. But what it comes down to is that she is carrying your child in her stomach right now. And much as I would gladly rip her hair out of her head, she's a pregnant female. And you'll need to support her."

He sighed.

"Please," he said, his voice hoarse, like he was about to cry. "I don't want to think about it right now. I don't want to think about her, or your fiancee or about anything right now."

I couldn't stand seeing him like this.

"I'm sorry. It's just hard to take in," I said, my head in my hands.

"It doesn't matter," Trish said soothingly. "You're getting married, remember?"

"Yay," I replied sarcastically.

The pizza came and we all gathered round the television eating it like old OLD times, wondering how it was possible for things to have changed so drastically.

* * *

We'd bought like six boxes of huge pizzas, so there was still lots left after a few hours.

"Hey, when exactly is Chase coming back?" Trish asked.

"I've been wondering the same thing, actually," I said. "He's on a new movie with Lily Zaman."

"Didn't they use to go out?" Dez asked whilst eating.

"Yeah, like years and years ago. She's married now though," I replied.

"Yeah, wasn't it like a month ago that she got married?" Trish asked, and I nodded.

Where was he?

Austin handed his phone over to me. It was like he had read my mind.

It read: Chase Schafer and Lily Zaman Spotted Getting Dinner Together in BaZi Restaurant, Marlin Hotel.

I handed it back and tried not to show any emotion. I saw the corner of Austin's mouth turn up in a smile. I glared at him.

The door opened, and to my relief, it was Chase.

"Hi," I said.

"Hello," he replied, smiling that smile at me. Austin looked annoyed. "Sorry I couldn't make it back in time. We finished late so we just grabbed dinner from BaZi."

"How's Lily?" I asked. "It's been months and months since I last saw her."

He shrugged, and slumped down on the sofa, grabbing a slice of pizza.

"Living that married life, I guess," he said, tiredly, his head on my shoulder. "Where's my sister?"

"Doctor's appointment," Trish replied.

"What's wrong with her now?"

"She's pregnant," I responded coolly. He lifted his head off my shoulder and looked at me like I was lying or something. Then he sat up and addressed Austin.

"That's great, man," he said tiredly again. "Congratulations to you both. Sorry I'm not really in a celebratory mood right now. It's been a long day."

"None of us really are, if I'm honest," Dez said.

Chase looked amused, then kissed my cheek.

"I think I'm gonna go home and get some sleep. I'm so tired. I'll see you tomorrow, beautiful," he said, before kissing me again and going.

He left and Trish and I started squealing. Austin raised an eyebrow.

"Is it just me who could smell drugs on the guy?" he asked, and this time I actually hit him.

"Just because he dresses in all black and has dark hair and used to be kind of bad and is slightly mysterious to someone who's not me doesn't mean you can say mean things about him. I like him, get over it," I snapped, and he burst out laughing.

"Goodnight, Ally. Trish. Come on, Dez," he said, standing up, amused. "You," he said, pointing at me again, "need to work on your newfound anger issues."

"Good night Austin," I replied sweetly. "And you need to work on finding some better contraception methods. Each to their own!"

He smirked at me and left with Dez.

"I like Chase," Trish said again, nudging me. "And he looks hot when he's tired too."

I raised an eyebrow.

"He does, doesn't he?" I laughed, then trailed off. "You know who he went to dinner with, right?"

"I'm guessing all the people on set?"

"Lily Zaman," I replied.

"I found her really bitchy last year," Trish responded. "I don't like her."

"Nor do I," I said, folding my arms.

"Are you jealous of a married girl working with Chase?" she exclaimed.

"Well she is Lily Zaman, Trish," I replied.

"It's those Arab features," she chuckled. "They're intimidating. Still, I don't think you have anything you need to worry about."

"I guess. He proposed to me. That's got to mean something, right?"

"Ally. It's a PROPOSAL. For crying out loud, this boy loves you. I swear to you he does," she laughed.

I felt reassured by her words, but still needed to know that she was right. I pulled out my phone.

 **Ally** : Just to be clear, you and Lily Zaman don't still have a thing right?

 **Chase** : Don't be silly - that was years ago. Love you, good night

 **Ally** : Still

 **Chase** : You're cute when you're jealous

 **Ally** : Good night Chase - lunch at ours tomorrow xx

 **Chase** : Can't wait

* * *

Lunch back home was all well and good the next day until I realised that Chase was not trying to be fashionably late. He was just late.

"He's just an idiot," Cassidy said. "He's probably on set still. With Lily Zaman." The Lily Zaman part was unnecessary, and I glared at her. She smiled innocently.

"What's so special about Lily Zaman anyway?" Austin shrugged. Cassidy scoffed.

"Well she's only the greatest young actor of our time, the prettiest actor of our time and, oops, I forgot to mention, the love of brother dearest's life," she exclaimed, sparing no detail. I pretended not to hear and got out my phone and called him. Voice mail. Seriously?

"Sorry I'm late," he said, coming in and kissing my cheek.

"You're in different clothes," Cassidy observed.

"And what?" he shrugged. "I wanted to change clothes."

"How's Lily doing?" Cassidy asked. He didn't respond. "Okay then."

* * *

 _Later in the kitchen..._

Cassidy's POV

There was something seriously up with my brother, and I didn't know what it was. Well, at least I hoped I didn't know what it was. It was only when I realized he'd changed clothes before lunch that my suspicions were confirmed.

"Is everything okay with you, Chase? Like seriously," I started, washing up the dishes while he sat at the breakfast bar. We were all alone.

"Yeah, why?"

I turned around.

"Because last time I checked you only used to come home really late like you do nowadays when we were younger and you had a," I lowered my voice and hissed, "drug problem."

He froze.

"What the hell is your problem? That was years ago. Thanks for looking out for me sis, but I've got it all under control."

"Chase-"

"Stop acting like you care so much. The only person you care about is yourself. Stop creating trouble for me and Ally," he retorted.

"I'm just looking out for you, Chase," I sighed.

"Well don't. Look out for yourself. I'm not on drugs, but I sure as hell hope you are, because you've gotta take something to make you sick in the mornings right?"

"Excuse me?" I asked, annoyed.

"You're not fooling me with this whole pregnancy thing, Cassidy."

"I have no clue what you're getting at, Chase," I snapped.

"You're not pregnant," he smiled. "It's only a matter of time before everyone else finds out. I look forward to seeing how you plan your miscarriage."

"I've had my fair share of roles in the acting industry. If you tell anyone, I will make sure that I simultaneously ruin yours and Ally's relationship and ensure that Lily Zaman never speaks to you again," I snarled.

"I'm not going to tell a soul, dear sister," he smirked. "I'd just like to see how you get yourself out of this one."

And with that, he left.

 **A/N: What do you guys think about Cassidy's fake pregnancy? And Lily Zaman? There's lots more to come, so stay tuned. A chapter is coming VERY soon. Please review, even if you can't be bothered, just write 1-10 on how good you thought it was. And tell me what you think may happen next as I LOVE reading your thoughts. It makes my writing that much better. X**


	16. Chapter 16

Ally's POV

As the weeks went by, I couldn't help but notice Chase growing even more distant than he'd become. He would stay out late, and by late I mean LATE, and come back really tired, kiss me goodnight and go home. I didn't understand - where was the old Chase? The one who used to take me out for dinner no matter what the time was and stay with me until I was safe and asleep? He put it down to stress about the film, and obviously I believed him. I wasn't an actor. I knew how hard it must have been for him. I also, however, knew that Lily Zaman was a big part of the change in his behaviour. I mean, was I stupid?

So I decided this one day to pay a visit to the set of his new film, and bring some of his favourite food for him. Just to make it believable, you know? I mean, do you blame me for being kind of stalker-like? I was getting married to this guy in a few months, and instead of getting closer to him (which is what usual engaged couples do), I was drifting further and further away from him!

It kind of happened on a whim, I won't lie. I'd been thinking too much, and had finally had enough. Might as well find out he's cheating on me now than later, right? So I pulled on clothes that made me more confident in standing up to Lily Zaman and wore high heels for the first time in what seemed like forever. I got in my car and drove over to the set, food in my hand. Trish had thought this was a bad idea, but I was through with listening to what other people had to say anymore. Plus, I was only going to visit him on his set. I wasn't going to start a fight or anything...I hoped.

* * *

Austin's POV

I had been seeing Ally get considerably more impatient over the next few weeks, and I knew she was going to crack at any second. I put it all down to Chase's immaturity, but she was right in thinking something was going on with Lily. And I mean, who wouldn't? Have you seen the girl?

"I'm worried," Cassidy commented. "About my brother."

"Aren't we all," I replied in a monotone.

"What is he doing out so late? He comes home at like three every morning. I'm worried about him," she said.

"Well, he's with Ally, so why do you care?"

"Can I tell you something? But you have to make sure you don't tell anyone," she warned me. I was interested.

"Go on," I said.

"He used to have a drug problem," she whispered. "It nearly tore him apart. When he broke up with Ally the first time my mom and I had to keep tabs on him 24/7 to check he wouldn't start again."

"Why would he start again?" I asked, confused.

"Because of Lily," she whispered. "You don't understand what that girl has done to my brother."

* * *

Ally's POV

Oozing with confidence, I strutted over to the set, and was immediately let in. I noticed heads turn and whisper my name but I didn't really care.

"Hi," I said brightly, when I saw Chase sitting down drinking some coffee, looking kind of annoyed.

To my great relief, his face lit up when he saw me.

"Ally," he said, pulling me into a kiss. "You came. Things were getting a little boring."

"And I brought food. Your favourite," I smiled.

"Grab a chair," he said brightly.

Seemed like I had been scared for nothing. I guess I half expected to walk in on them both making out or something. I needed to stop with this paranoia. Gosh. Then I heard another pair of heels, but didn't turn my head.

"Lily," he said happily again (TOO happily), "you've met Ally, haven't you?"

Sure enough, she looked the same. She was tall, and slim, and had long legs and pale skin with sharp features and hazel/green eyes and brown nearly black hair. And she was intimidating. In all sorts of ways.

"Oh, Ally!" she said in that silky, effortless voice that made me really REALLY uncomfortable and really small. "It's so good to see you again. Congratulations, by the way."

"Lily, it's great to see you too," I said in the best voice I could muster. "And you on your marriage. It must be so great to know you're spending the rest of your life with the person you love most." I put my hand on Chase's. I was SO possessive. It actually made me laugh. She looked at my hand on his and hesitated. She couldn't make eye contact. ALARM BELLS RINGING. ?

"Oh, it's great," she said.

Awkward silence.

"Anyway," she said, Chase looking ahead and not at either of us with a blunt expression on his face, "I'll leave you two to some privacy."

And with that, she walked away without a backwards glance.

"Why do I feel like I don't want you to do this movie?" I laughed at him uneasily.

"Because you're a paranoid, silly girl who's kind of immature?" he suggested, smirking.

"Well I'm sorry if I'm getting a little annoyed as to what's keeping you from coming home at a decent hour," I rolled my eyes.

"We finish late, Ally," he said again. "I promise you I'm not anywhere near Lily at that time, if that's what you want to hear."

I kissed his cheek.

"I trust you, Chase," I whispered. "I just don't trust your immaturity."

"See you later?" he asked as I got up to leave.

"I'm not holding my breath," I replied with a smile, before leaving. I could feel Lily watching me from the side.

"I'll be there at ten," he called.

I didn't know what to think after that. I loved Chase, I really did. And I knew he wouldn't cheat on me. He was that guy who would tell you straight up that he didn't like where things were going. He had changed from the boy he used to be before. The boy whose parents were never there to guide him or tell him right from wrong. The boy whose sister couldn't care less about him. He had me now, and something was going on. I needed to find out what it was.

Back home, I waited. 7, 8, 9 went by. He said he'd be there at ten, right?

21:34

"I wouldn't wait on him," Cassidy called from the kitchen. "He does this all the time."

21:42

He better be here or I'm gonna lose it, I thought to myself.

22:14

That's it, I thought. I got up and sighed, and called him. Voicemail. Didn't see that one coming.

A text message came through a minute later.

 **Chase:** I'm SO sorry but we're having a late finish. You know how much I wanted to be there. I love u

"Where is he?" I half shouted, desperate to know what was going on right now. "I'm going to find him."

I grabbed my purse and literally ran out of the house to my car and drove down to the set. It was shut. Just as I had expected. He had lied to me. He LIED to me. I sped all the way down to his house and knocked on the door. No answer. His parents were abroad.

I knocked harder, growing angry.

"Chase!" I shouted. "Are you in there?"

Because really, where else could he be?

No answer.

That left like two more options, really. Either he had gone to mine, or he was with Lily. Which one was it gonna be?

I sighed, grabbing my phone and calling him again, with no answer AGAIN. Where was he? I wasn't going to rest until I found out. And I wasn't in the mood that night either. Then I remembered that weird new app that we all decided to disable for privacy reasons, that one where you could pinpoint where in the country your friends were as long as their phones were on.

Desperate measures. I shook my head, unable to believe I was tracking my own fiancee down like this.

Sure enough, his phone was on, as I was able to pinpoint his exact location. I drove down to BaZi as fast as I could, a million thoughts rushing through my mind. BaZi. A bar. In a hotel. He'd been there with Lily before. He was with Lily! God knows, he may have been planning to spend the night with her or something.

I got there and my phone started buzzing telling me I was getting closer and closer. I pushed my way through tons of people drinking and having fun or on dates or something and wondered exactly how I was going to handle this. Truth be told, I didn't care about planning how I was going to handle the situation.

"Chase?" I whispered, shocked when I saw him sitting in the far corner, all alone, his eyes droopy with a cigarette and several bottles of alcohol around him. "Chase, oh my God." I ran over to him and began picking up the empty bottles of alcohol and throwing them to the side.

"Leave that, Ally," he moaned. "They were expensive."

"What the hell, Chase?" I shouted. "Get that out of your mouth right now. Is that crack?"

I could not believe what was happening in front of me.

"No," he moaned again. Then a tear escaped his eye and I started getting really scared.

"Okay, I'm calling Austin," I said.

"No, please," he said, tilting his head back against the wall.

"No, I'm scared, Chase," I replied quietly, getting my phone out, not before I saw another tear escape his eye.

"I'm not gonna do anything to you, Ally. I would never hurt you," he said, his voice thick with tears. I put my phone away and sat opposite him. His pupils were dilated. Oh my god.

"What happened?" I asked him gently.

He picked up another bottle from behind him and I told him to put it down.

"Everything," he whispered, in a daze. "I just hate her for what she's done to me."

"Who?" I asked, and he looked at the floor in shame. "Chase, I'm here for you. Talk to me."

"Lily," he said, picking up the bottle again, staring at it, then smashing it against the wall.

"Lily. Tell me about Lily. No drinks or drugs allowed," I said softly, and he slumped down next to me. "Talk to me."

"I met her in the first year of high school," he said, his voice hoarse. "She had just moved to the states from Lebanon and she was...the most beautiful girl I had ever laid eyes on. But I didn't have a chance with her of course. She found me dumb and stalker-like but my childhood dream came true when she got put next to me in math in the second semester. We became friends and she had the most...vibrant personality ever. I fell instantly for her. A year later, I found the courage to ask her to the school dance, and she said yes, and that was the best night of my life. The best ever," he smiled. Must be the drugs, I realized. The effects would wear off in a few minutes, I knew.

"Go on," I said.

"We dated for years and years...I was mad about her. I still am," he admitted. "So when she left, it was like a part of me left with her. She left without saying goodbye to me in person. She told me it was what was best for her. I lost track of my life and started doing, well..."

"Drugs," I sighed. "I still don't get how-"

"She came back for a movie, and I swore to myself I would make her mine. And I did. It was only when her parents forbade her from being with me that she left me again," he said through gritted teeth, "for some prince they hooked her up with. I guess I was too lower class and American for a family like them."

"I'm so sorry, Chase," I said.

"She loves me, Ally. She still freaking loves me. I can see it when she looks at me, when we're filming, when we're taking a lunch break, when we're simply catching up. She's the greatest girl I have ever met in my life and forever will be. She makes me complete. But she'd rather follow what her parents want her to do than follow her heart. She would have never married that freaking prince." He looked angry now.

I didn't reply.

"I don't want you to think that I've been stringing you along all this time, Ally. Everything I've said to you, everything I've felt for you since we've been together has been real. I just...can't not love her," he admitted. "And every time I see her, I wonder just how I let the girl of my dreams slip away from me like that."

"So you turn to this," I commented.

"Ally..."

"I'm not even annoyed at you, Chase. I just don't get why you couldn't talk to me about this instead of doing drugs," I said.

"Drugs were the only thing I could remember as being able to make me happy," he said bleakly. "Plus, I didn't think you would understand. I do love you, Ally."

"Really," I said, "I do understand." I sighed.

"Do you?" he asked.

"Yeah, yours and Lily's story kind of reminds me of another two people I know," I said sadly. I grew serious again. "Empty all of your pockets right now. I want every last bit of cocaine out of your reach."

He sighed and emptied his pockets while I threw them in the bin.

"I'll help you get her back," I sighed when it was all over.

"Why would you do that?" he asked, still confused.

"Because this," I said, pulling off my ring and handing it over to him, "rightfully belongs to Lily. Not me."

He gave me a look before taking it back.

"And," I sighed, "because I know what it feels like to lose the love of your life to someone else. It's not something you can live with forever."

I can't really describe how I felt when I heard the story...if anything, I found it terrifyingly relatable. I wanted to be sick. I wanted to scream at him for being the worst guy ever but in that moment all I could see in him was me. The same way I'd lost Austin to his sister, he'd lost Lily, the love of his life. It felt weirdly satisfying to share that feeling with someone else. Even if you'd just caught that someone drowning out said feeling with drugs.

Plus it wasn't like Chase had any support from anyone. His parents were constantly not there for him, and his sister...well, I don't know about Cassidy. He just wasn't letting anyone in.

Which is why I was going to help him get back the love of his life - I couldn't bear to see him drown away his pain like this. Plus, I would feel amazing if I was able to rid another of the deep sorrow of losing the one person who means the world to you.

I only wished I could be able to do the same for the love of my life.

* * *

 **A/N: So Chase and Ally are over, and Ally's going to do all she can to make sure Lily and Chase get back together. What do you think will happen next? Stay tuned. Please drop a review. Thanks so much for reading.**

 **Even if you can't be bothered, just write 1-10 on how good you thought it was, because I hate getting no feedback on the story and my writing. Xx next chapter coming soon!**


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